Just finished the latest Dresden book. I was really into that series last year but damn did that formula grow stale fast. So much action and it still managed to be boring. There is no tension whatsoever when you already know that no matter what happens either Dresden levels up his powers or someone miraculously appears out of nowhere to save the day.
What are you reading? (July 2014)
- Thread starter Maklershed
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I know what you mean. I've hit one of my stagnant point where I get super distracted by reading (this also goes hand-in-hand when I get addicted to a game).
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 bought it!
nakedsushi
Member
Finished:
Stoner by John Edward Williams
Yep, it's every bit as good as everyone says it is. It's just a very well written book about a very ordinary man's life. I was apprehensive about starting this because it sounds so boring but it's just so insightful and beautifully written.
Stoner by John Edward Williams
Yep, it's every bit as good as everyone says it is. It's just a very well written book about a very ordinary man's life. I was apprehensive about starting this because it sounds so boring but it's just so insightful and beautifully written.
Finished:
Stoner by John Edward Williams
Yep, it's every bit as good as everyone says it is. It's just a very well written book about a very ordinary man's life. I was apprehensive about starting this because it sounds so boring but it's just so insightful and beautifully written.
This book crept up on me emotionally like few others I've read, the end had me teared up. Such a subtle, but powerful masterpiece.
Finished:
Stoner by John Edward Williams
Yep, it's every bit as good as everyone says it is. It's just a very well written book about a very ordinary man's life. I was apprehensive about starting this because it sounds so boring but it's just so insightful and beautifully written.
Yea, that is easily the best book that I've read in the last few years.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Thanks! I hope you like it!
PassiveObserver
Member
Finished:
Stoner by John Edward Williams
Yep, it's every bit as good as everyone says it is. It's just a very well written book about a very ordinary man's life. I was apprehensive about starting this because it sounds so boring but it's just so insightful and beautifully written.
The "lost classic" hype is huge on this one, but it delivered. Devastating book.
nakedsushi
Member
A lot of people describe it as being depressing, and yes, it was not happy in most parts, but I thought it had a happy ending. The only thing I would have liked is if
Lomax or Walker got some come-uppance, but since they didn't, it's true to life in that sometimes, you just roll some crappy dice.
Horseticuffs
Full werewolf off the buckle
Guys, I got up to like chapter 4 of Walden and just had to stop. I don't know exactly what I was looking for here. There were some sections of such brilliance, beauty, and insight that they struck me. There were tons of bits where he'd seem to ramble on and on about inane bullshit.
I feel lesser for having quit, especially since some parts were so very powerful. I don't know where or why the fatal disconnect occurred but I couldn't struggle through any longer :-/
I feel lesser for having quit, especially since some parts were so very powerful. I don't know where or why the fatal disconnect occurred but I couldn't struggle through any longer :-/
Finished Conn Iggulden's Emperor, Conqurer and first book of the War of the Roses series (Stormbird). I think the biggest shock from reading the books is how little humans advanced or even regressed in 1400 years, if you didn't know the actual time lines you might put the Conqurer books first, WotR then the Emperor books next. Even then you couldn't be sure as it seems Mongolian's had better medical options through the Muslim and Chinese conquests than Europeans in the 1400's.
After reading Stormbird it makes you realise how true the authors comments may have been in one of the Conqurer books about how the Mongol's would have sweeped over Europe if Ogedei hadn't had died.
After a bunch of "based on historical fact" books I need a genre switch again I think, back to fantasy perhaps.
After reading Stormbird it makes you realise how true the authors comments may have been in one of the Conqurer books about how the Mongol's would have sweeped over Europe if Ogedei hadn't had died.
After a bunch of "based on historical fact" books I need a genre switch again I think, back to fantasy perhaps.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Finished Nothing to Envy. Tough read/listen, but very interesting and insightful.
Started listening to this
Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters by Tim Marquitz
About halfway in now and there's been a couple of good stories with interesting angles, but overall the collection is very uninspired. It feels like a lot of the authors are just phoning it in to get a paycheck, I assume.
"Giant monster, check-
monster is mindless and attacks, check-
giant robot called in to engage said giant monster, check-"
Will keep at it, hopefully they saved the best for last.
Started listening to this
Kaiju Rising: Age of Monsters by Tim Marquitz
About halfway in now and there's been a couple of good stories with interesting angles, but overall the collection is very uninspired. It feels like a lot of the authors are just phoning it in to get a paycheck, I assume.
"Giant monster, check-
monster is mindless and attacks, check-
giant robot called in to engage said giant monster, check-"
Will keep at it, hopefully they saved the best for last.
TestMonkey
Member
I'm still in the A section. The Encyclopedia Britannica has 44 million words. That's reading the Wheel of Time 10 times over. That's a lot.
Watched the Empire Falls HBO miniseries last night, so I guess I must’ve liked the book enough to even do that, and it was good, but still no change on the 3.5/5 from my goodreads review. One moment definitely hit like a tonne of bricks though with one line of dialogue that no doubt will stick with me, but just some ups and downs throughout.
Onto something no doubt a much more fun read, and something I’m trying to get into more of with my first foray into Fantasy Football this season… fun first chapter, can feel like this will be a fun summer read.
Now Reading..
Fantasy Life: The Outrageous, Uplifting, and Heartbreaking World of Fantasy Sports from the Guy Who's Lived It by Matthew Berry
Onto something no doubt a much more fun read, and something I’m trying to get into more of with my first foray into Fantasy Football this season… fun first chapter, can feel like this will be a fun summer read.
Now Reading..
Fantasy Life: The Outrageous, Uplifting, and Heartbreaking World of Fantasy Sports from the Guy Who's Lived It by Matthew Berry
sparky2112
Member
I am backed up by months-worth of reading and not posting in these threads, so I'm going to work my way through slowly. First, is a 'failure to launch':
Although, my version is annotated, it's not annotated nearly enough. 19th century English is bad enough, but this is 18th century English. It's just not something I want to wade into, and keep in mind that I loves me some Dickens, Trollope, etc. This is a fore barer of theirs, and it's often referred to as the 'first postmodern' novel, which is really just saying that Sterne was waaaay before his time in terms of unconventional structure, etc.
It's also on the shortlist of 'novels that can't be filmed', which is one reason I LOVE the Steve Coogan and Gillian Anderson version from a few years back. The movie details an ambitious film production of the novel that of course breaks down and the second half of the movie is about how you can't make a movie of the novel. Well worth your time if you're into Steve Coogan.
Does anybody know of a good guide with which I can make another run at it?
Although, my version is annotated, it's not annotated nearly enough. 19th century English is bad enough, but this is 18th century English. It's just not something I want to wade into, and keep in mind that I loves me some Dickens, Trollope, etc. This is a fore barer of theirs, and it's often referred to as the 'first postmodern' novel, which is really just saying that Sterne was waaaay before his time in terms of unconventional structure, etc.
It's also on the shortlist of 'novels that can't be filmed', which is one reason I LOVE the Steve Coogan and Gillian Anderson version from a few years back. The movie details an ambitious film production of the novel that of course breaks down and the second half of the movie is about how you can't make a movie of the novel. Well worth your time if you're into Steve Coogan.
Does anybody know of a good guide with which I can make another run at it?
Mackenzie 92
Member
Finished (which was amazing)
Nice. Just happened to pick that up on a whim the other day.
sparky2112
Member
Lewis is just awesome. Cannot recommend The Big Short enough, either.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Tragicomedy
Member
The Big Short is the most unbelievable story I've read in the last five years...and it's totally true.
I have read Flashboys and Moneyball and enjoyed them both. I will check out some of his other stuff.
nakedsushi
Member
Really good.
Oh nice, I forgot this came out. How does it compare to Scott Pilgrim?
I like her more as the series goes on, but I've heard people have the opposite reaction as well.
Currently reading,
My reaction is to think to myself "oh god I'm part of the problem just because of how I follow politics".
Haven't been reading much, still (slowly) going through Forge of Christendom by Tom Holland. Wonkier than some of his better works, like Rubicon. It feels like the facts take a backseat to the narrative he's building, at times, and the way he places a particular importance on one single year rather than an era as a whole was a mistake.
I read it a few days ago and didn't like it very much - it's somewhat of a misrepresentation of a worthwhile review, and the rest basically just boils down to some critics liking it and some not, like many other such novels.
The James Wood piece is very much worth reading, though, and not just because I agree with it for the most part. And because the New Yorker has made their archives public over the summer, everyone can read it freely online.
I read it a few days ago and didn't like it very much - it's somewhat of a misrepresentation of a worthwhile review, and the rest basically just boils down to some critics liking it and some not, like many other such novels.
The James Wood piece is very much worth reading, though, and not just because I agree with it for the most part. And because the New Yorker has made their archives public over the summer, everyone can read it freely online.
Well, you gotta ask yourself why you like a full bookshelf. Do you feel smart and sophisticated when you look at it? Do you like to keep it stocked to impress people who glance at it? Now, ask yourself if it is more important to feel smarter and more sophisticated and impress lady friends than it is to actually be smarter by going to the library and saving a shit ton of money.
ZQQLANDER
Member
Lol, I don't think I would impress many lady friends with the nerd-shelf that I have going. I guess its more of a physical reminder that translates to "hey, I read that on such and such date last year" and "it was really good or really bad or whatever."
Edit: I mean they aren't really expensive books, but hey, $8 can still add up.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Tugs on braid
shoots self in the face
Don't worry, I'm the same. (And I'm certainly not trying to impress any lady friends.
) I like having my own library and lending out books to friends and rereading them. As long as I'm able to afford it, I'll keep purchasing novels. Sure, I could save money by borrowing from a library, but we all have our vices. *shrugs*Just finished Le Ly Hayslip's When Heaven and Earth Changed Places. Good memoir.
Starting on Ursula K. Le Guin's Lavinia.
Don't worry, I'm the same. (And I'm certainly not trying to impress any lady friends.
By "lending" do you mean "forcibly giving it to them so they have no choice but to read it"?
Finished:
Stoner by John Edward Williams
Yep, it's every bit as good as everyone says it is. It's just a very well written book about a very ordinary man's life. I was apprehensive about starting this because it sounds so boring but it's just so insightful and beautifully written.
This and the following posts have convinced me to read it.
My friends had a choice... when they decided to be my friends!
Horseticuffs
Full werewolf off the buckle
Well into Dracula again. It's one of those books I come back to every few years. After this I'm considering Meditations by Marcus Aurelius or Dharma Bums.
ZQQLANDER
Member
I hate lending my shit out. 9 times out of 10, the person doesn't touch the book for 6 months.
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