-
Hey, guest user. Hope you're enjoying NeoGAF! Have you considered registering for an account? Come join us and add your take to the daily discourse.
What are you reading? (July 2014)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
- Status
With a sequel to Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, titled The Last King of Osten Ard, coming next year, I'm embarking on a reread of what I consider my favourite fantasy trilogy of all time, beginning with The Dragonbone Chair.
For those also looking forward to reading Williams' trilogy, which hugely influenced George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, I'll be co-authoring a re-read series on Tor.com this fall.
For those also looking forward to reading Williams' trilogy, which hugely influenced George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, I'll be co-authoring a re-read series on Tor.com this fall.
Amentallica
Unconfirmed Member
Well, it has Nabokov's endorsement.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Awesome. Amazing trilogy. Definitely one of the authors who influenced my writing in the fantasy genre.With a sequel to Tad Williams' Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, titled The Last King of Osten Ard, coming next year, I'm embarking on a reread of what I consider my favourite fantasy trilogy of all time, beginning with The Dragonbone Chair.
For those also looking forward to reading Williams' trilogy, which hugely influenced George R.R. Martin's A Song of Ice and Fire, I'll be co-authoring a re-read series on Tor.com this fall.
Can't wait for the new book.
Coincidentally, I'm just about finished(one chapter is all that's left) with Dead Souls... in Russian. I haven't read more than an accumulative paragraph of Russian text in well over a decade at this point so I've had the Guerney translation by my side to take a peak at every once in a while. It's about as good a translation as anyone could ask for. Some aesthetic value of the language is lost(Gogol is very good at this sort of thing, it's almost a vernacular of his own making) to be replaced by stuff that is anachronistic now. The book is also a lighthearted, very sarcastic comedy first and foremost and a good sense of humor is hard to translate. Anyway, I would recommend the Guerney translation wholeheartedly, not that you need my endorsement when Nabokov also raves about it.
Oh, by the way, the book is fucking fantastic. I don't know if I can sum it up in a few lines here... it's taking some very human qualities we don't often encounter in literature(or any media actually) that's more concerned with the grandiose, epic emotion and traits to make the most unforgettable characters out of them. It's laugh out loud funny, very witty and has these weird stylistic moments when the author just breaks out of the narrative as starts talking to the reader on a number of subjects. Not the kind of thing I expected from something that's taught in every Russian classroom.
Jag
Member
New Joe Abercrombie series called the Shattered Sea. First book just came out, Half a King. Haven't heard about it, but it's supposed to be YA.
Anyone in on this? He hasn't disappointed yet.
Edit: I started looking at Goodreads reviews and got to Brent Weeks' review. Very funny.
Anyone in on this? He hasn't disappointed yet.
Edit: I started looking at Goodreads reviews and got to Brent Weeks' review. Very funny.
Just finished re-reading an old book I first read in high school.
To Hell or Barbados: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland by Sean O'Callaghan
If you like history, give it a look. I won't lie and say the author doesn't impart a bit of bias into the tone of the writing, but he did a great deal of research for the book and it shows in the details.
To Hell or Barbados: The Ethnic Cleansing of Ireland by Sean O'Callaghan
If you like history, give it a look. I won't lie and say the author doesn't impart a bit of bias into the tone of the writing, but he did a great deal of research for the book and it shows in the details.
CapitalismSucks DonkeyBalls
Banned
Currently reading The Executioner's Song as I'm taking a break from A Song of Ice and Fire after finishing A Storm of Swords a couple of weeks ago.
I've enjoyed it so far. I've always loved Mailer's casual style of writing as well as his ability to connect you with the character's so quickly.
I've enjoyed it so far. I've always loved Mailer's casual style of writing as well as his ability to connect you with the character's so quickly.
Mackenzie 92
Member
New Joe Abercrombie series called the Shattered Sea. First book just came out, Half a King. Haven't heard about it, but it's supposed to be YA.
Anyone in on this? He hasn't disappointed yet.
Edit: I started looking at Goodreads reviews and got to Brent Weeks' review. Very funny.
I wasn't too crazy about it. Loved all of his other stuff.
sparky2112
Member
Gotta cash in on the YA craze, though, amiright?
Related: had to chuckle a few years ago when I, with one of my kids, was in the kid's section at the bookstore, and they had broken up the first of Jordan's Wheel of Time into multiple volumes and publish THAT as YA. Then again, Jordan ain't/wasn't exactly Martin, was he?
Cyrus_Saren
Member
Currently going through Before They Are Hanged by Joe Abercrombie. However, since I didn't go right into this book after reading The Blade Itself, I am a bit hazy on some of the characters so I have also been reading the reread series that is on Tor.
Jag
Member
That's unfortunate. Reading glowing reviews, but I'll typically trust board responses first. Not sure if it's worth bumping this to the top of my vacation reading list which starts tomorrow.
does anyone know of a good book to read in order to have an opinion on isreal-palestine stuff? obviously there's no such thing as an unbiased account, but i'm not looking for a polemic arguing a particular case, more something to give me a good overview of the history from the creation of isreal to the present (maybe in more depth than just trawling through wikipedia) so i can make up my own mind, or at least have a good grounding with which to see the conflict.
i finished travels with my aunt by graham greene. i disliked it a lot. the only unpredictable part of the story was the last page which has a creepy happy ending that would raise eyebrows if it weren't published in the sixties (unless woody allen wrote it). not that you can't write a great character based comedy adventure story with well worn structures, but the comedy ran out of steam after the first fifty pages and the jokes are pretty obvious in the main (with a couple exceptions), the travel adventure is never exciting and dramatically it doesn't dip anyway below the surface of the 'uptight traditional english bore learns to life life to the full thanks to having an adventure with his vivacious, eccentric aunt by ' character arc. i'm not sure which is more embarrassing for greene when it comes to the character of wordsworth, the patronizing stereotypical racist depiction or the clumsy and contrived use of him in the story. gonna get one of his non-comedies out of the library to wash the bad taste of it from my mouth, i know he can do so much better.
i finished travels with my aunt by graham greene. i disliked it a lot. the only unpredictable part of the story was the last page which has a creepy happy ending that would raise eyebrows if it weren't published in the sixties (unless woody allen wrote it). not that you can't write a great character based comedy adventure story with well worn structures, but the comedy ran out of steam after the first fifty pages and the jokes are pretty obvious in the main (with a couple exceptions), the travel adventure is never exciting and dramatically it doesn't dip anyway below the surface of the 'uptight traditional english bore learns to life life to the full thanks to having an adventure with his vivacious, eccentric aunt by ' character arc. i'm not sure which is more embarrassing for greene when it comes to the character of wordsworth, the patronizing stereotypical racist depiction or the clumsy and contrived use of him in the story. gonna get one of his non-comedies out of the library to wash the bad taste of it from my mouth, i know he can do so much better.
It's a great a fun re-read, following it closely. Link for those interested:
http://www.tor.com/features/series/joe-abercrombie-reread
Lawrence in Arabia by Anderson is quite good. It doesn't specifically deal with the whole palestine-Israel thing because it is a history of WWI focused on the Ottoman Empire and the formation of the modern Middle East, but it should give you some good grounding. Also, one of the characters that he follows (there are 4 main ones) is one of the early zionists, so you definitely get a lot of history on the early zionist movement.
Tragicomedy
Member
I've been meaning to read his stuff. I might give this a go.
Purchased the Guerney. Also bought Ann Leckie's Ancillary Justice because it was two bucks and haly.
Finished up Red Seas Under Red Skies yesterday and The Republic of Thieves today, both by Scott Lynch. The Lies of Lock Lamora and Red Seas Under Red Skies made me remember why I was so addicted to fantasy novels in highschool and the third book made me remember why I dropped the genre so hard. The build up and the revelation itself towards the end of the The Republic of Thieves was entirely unnecessary IMO. The series as a whole so far has been enjoyable, even if each book is a little worse than the last. I'll be hanging around to see where Lynch takes the next book at least, hopefully he can bring back some of the shine that was in the first book.
Probably going to check out Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend or the Book Thief.
Probably going to check out Memoirs of an Imaginary Friend or the Book Thief.
AngmarsKing701
Member
I read the ARC via netgalley. Here's the review I posted: http://brianjlang.wordpress.com/2014/05/02/book-review-joe-abercrombie-half-a-king/New Joe Abercrombie series called the Shattered Sea. First book just came out, Half a King. Haven't heard about it, but it's supposed to be YA.
Anyone in on this? He hasn't disappointed yet.
Edit: I started looking at Goodreads reviews and got to Brent Weeks' review. Very funny.
Yes!
Horseticuffs
Full werewolf off the buckle
Well, I finished "The Stand". I'm not an easily moved sort, but some of the characters were so likable that I damn near found myself tearing up from time to time
I've since moved on to something I've been wanting to read since my youth but always found to be a bit too "precious". I guess maybe I wasn't giving it a fair shot, or maybe maturity has caught up with me, because I've just put a good hour into "Walden" by Thoreau and have really enjoyed it.
"We know but few men. A great many coats and breeches."- Thoreau
Daaaaaaamn, son. Thoreau making all with the scathing indictments and such. Cold as hell.
Cold.
As.
Hell.
M-O-O-N. That spells manly tears!
I've since moved on to something I've been wanting to read since my youth but always found to be a bit too "precious". I guess maybe I wasn't giving it a fair shot, or maybe maturity has caught up with me, because I've just put a good hour into "Walden" by Thoreau and have really enjoyed it.
"We know but few men. A great many coats and breeches."- Thoreau
Daaaaaaamn, son. Thoreau making all with the scathing indictments and such. Cold as hell.
Cold.
As.
Hell.
The Horror the horror
Banned
Been reading a lot of self-help books. Simple guides to maintain a positive mindset and to put things into perspective.
If anyone can donate a book recommendation, I'd love to take it.
If anyone can donate a book recommendation, I'd love to take it.
dream
Member
The Goldfinch is interesting because it's polarizing even within academic circles. I think it's overwrought textual anus, personally, but I know some brilliant, brilliant people who swear to me that the novel is phenomenal--one of the best contemporary texts ever written, renews the possibilities of literature, blah blah blah.
The Power of Habit
Had to fly cross country and back over two days so I managed to read both of these waiting at airports/onflight
How was this? I read the first book in the trilogy but not the 2nd. If this 3rd is worth it, then I will just read 2 and 3 to finish them up.
nakedsushi
Member
Disclaimer: I work at Goodreads and therefore Amazon
But did you guys see Kindle Unlimited? Seems like another one of those "paid library for ebooks" type things where you pay a monthly fee and get to borrow a bunch of books for free. Or more like Netflix for books I guess. Selection is not huge, but I'm gonna sign up for the 30-day free trial: http://amazon.com/ku-freetrial
But did you guys see Kindle Unlimited? Seems like another one of those "paid library for ebooks" type things where you pay a monthly fee and get to borrow a bunch of books for free. Or more like Netflix for books I guess. Selection is not huge, but I'm gonna sign up for the 30-day free trial: http://amazon.com/ku-freetrial
Tragicomedy
Member
I linked it yesterday in this thread in response to the OT on it.
The problem I see is the selection seems to overlap almost completely with what's already available to borrow on Prime. Granted, the Prime deal only lets you borrow one book a month. That's probably sufficient for most people who rarely read, which describes the vast majority of our population.
For those of us who read four or five books a month, the Unlimited deal doesn't sound terrible. The biggest question will be selection. Right now, most of the major publishers are not participating, and I don't see any circumstance where we'd see the likes of Hachette on board given the current drama. If you have a large backlog of relatively older books that you're interested in reading, this might be a good deal. Similar to the Netflix model, except even more limited in content than that.
If you're like me and already have a massive backlog of books you own or you want to read the latest releases, this seems pointless. Factor in that public libraries are embracing the e-lending system and this doesn't appeal to me.
nakedsushi
Member
^-- Oops, I guess I did not read that post. Sometimes, I'm just awful at reading, ironically.
You make good points, especially about the selection for people who are avid readers. I'm like you in that I have a huge backlog of things to read. My local library is also fairly awesome in getting newer stuff in for ebook lending. Sure, there's a waiting list, but most of the time, I'm in the middle of one book so by the time I finish one book, the next book is available to borrow so waiting is no problem.
I can see this service being useful for people who can't borrow ebooks from their library, or, as you said, only read a couple of books each month.
You make good points, especially about the selection for people who are avid readers. I'm like you in that I have a huge backlog of things to read. My local library is also fairly awesome in getting newer stuff in for ebook lending. Sure, there's a waiting list, but most of the time, I'm in the middle of one book so by the time I finish one book, the next book is available to borrow so waiting is no problem.
I can see this service being useful for people who can't borrow ebooks from their library, or, as you said, only read a couple of books each month.
sparky2112
Member
When I was starting to doubt whether to continue with it or not, I asked the David Foster Wallace mailing list for advice, and not one single person of all those that responded was positive about the book. I'm simply dumbfounded by its success. Then again, Donna Tartt became a bit of a lit darling with her first 'A Secret History', and, like Tool, she makes herself scarce, so her dropping a doorstop had people practically peeing in anticipation.
With the exception of the dialog, nothing in the book rings true, and don't even get me started by referring to it as Dickensian, as many have.
I don't often jump on literary bandwagons, but when I do, there's usually a good reason, imho, for the bandwagon (Cold Mountain, for example). This one I simply do NOT get.
I don't read fast enough to find value in this.
Tomatoland: How Modern Industrial Agriculture Destroyed Our Most Alluring Fruit by Barry Estabrook
This was a great and depressing read. I'm definitely going to be aware of where and when I buy tomatoes now. It also explains why most tomatoes from the supermarket taste like nothing.
All you gotta do is plant a single tomato plant in a pot (if you don't have the land to plant it in) and you realize that you have no idea what they actually sell in the store.
nakedsushi
Member
I read only a mere fraction of the book, but I was scratching my head about all the good reviews too. I mean, the book was okay, but it didn't really grab me and the writing certainly wasn't exception. It was nowhere on the level of Nabokov or Dickens, so I understand the literary backlash.
Whenever a book gets into the zeitgeist like The Goldfinch did, I get suspicious and unfortunately, that suspicion taints my experience of reading the book. I'm glad I'm at least not alone in this particular case.
I think my first good tomato was one that I bought from the farmer's market and it surprised me how much better it was than anything I'd gotten from the supermarket. After planting a few tomato plants, I have more respect for tomato farmers. Those plants are so finicky!
Mackenzie 92
Member
The audiobook selection doesn't look too bad. Might get it just for those. Pretty sure I can get through 2 or 3 of them a month on average.
My beefsteaks seem to be pretty hardy, but all other varieties do not like my soil or climate or something.
I just finished The Book of Life yesterday. I think the first in the series was my favorite out of the three, but I liked the settings a lot in the second, too. 'Book of Life' is darker in tone than the others but it still has a satisfying ending. If you liked the first one, I'd say go for it.
postcyberpunk
Banned
I decided I needed more Shakespeare in my life, so I started with this. I haven't read it in at least five years... I'm probably going to try to read all the plays by the end of this year.
Satisfying ending, although I have a bit of an issue with the way the antagonists were handled. I actually enjoyed the 2nd book the most out of the three.
It's a fun series, even if it is a trilogy of supernatural romance books at heart. The well researched historical nature kinda elevates them above the genre though.
I agree with you on all points! As a bookish, history-loving type this series was right up my alley. It's not your typical supernatural romance.
As for the antagonists..
The third book was kinda jarring when the focus turned from just "get the book and convince everyone to leave us alone" to "stop the psychopathic killer who has been behind the scenes this entire time." Although I guess it was kinda foreshadowed from the get-go that something crazy was going on with the way Diana's parents were killed and the murders in the beginning of book one. It just seemed like a rapid shift. Also, unrelated, but Diana getting a magical tattoo every time she did something amazing was a bit much. /shrug
AngmarsKing701
Member
Well, regardless of what Hachette does, Kindle Unlimited now has a great book as part of the subscription.
Mine.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IV3JTPA/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Tragicomedy
Member
Well, regardless of what Hachette does, Kindle Unlimited now has a great book as part of the subscription.
Mine.
http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00IV3JTPA/?tag=neogaf0e-20
I already purchased your book and intend to read it soon, but it's already available for free to any Prime member without Unlimited. It's tough to get excited about the service when it seems like a rehash of what's already rolled into the Amazon lending program.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Yep I hear you. I don't read fast enough for this to be practical, and the selection appears to be in the same vein as their music and movie selection, which is to say: not a lot.
- Status