I've read nothing but fantastic things about Fool's Assassin. Hmm, might have to jump back into Hobb's world sooner than expected.
NO!
I will be disciplined. Must. Finish. Bookshelf. Backlog. First.
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What are you reading? (July 2015)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
I've read nothing but fantastic things about Fool's Assassin. Hmm, might have to jump back into Hobb's world sooner than expected.
NO!
I will be disciplined. Must. Finish. Bookshelf. Backlog. First.
<3 It's out on a Thursday, and I would book the Friday off, but that's the week a co-worker in my department is going on holiday
I sympathise. I tell myself this all the time. Sometimes it works.
<3 It's out on a Thursday, and I would book the Friday off, but that's the week a co-worker in my department is going on holiday
I sympathise. I tell myself this all the time. Sometimes it works.
Sometimes. I was counting yesterday and stopped when I got to 20. I'm going to attack the thinner ones first to make a dent in the total number. Don't even want to think about the total pages. And I know I'm going to enjoy just about all of the books on my shelf. It's just a daunting task in terms of volume. I feel I can complete this quest by the end of 2015.
I just finished Malazan Book of the Fallen #9 - Dust of Dreams, yesterday. I did not think it was very good compared to some of the previous books. There were some cool moments near the end but it doesn't get into my top 5 of this series.
I just bought the final book, Malazan #10 - The Crippled God. I'm nearly done with this massive series and it will mark the longest I've ever read by far. According to my goodreads logging, it's been about 1 year since I started the first book. 10 books of this size in (a little over) 1 year is a massive achievement for me as a reader, as I've never done that before. I am not a particularly fast reader and only do about 15-30 minutes a day, usually.
I just bought the final book, Malazan #10 - The Crippled God. I'm nearly done with this massive series and it will mark the longest I've ever read by far. According to my goodreads logging, it's been about 1 year since I started the first book. 10 books of this size in (a little over) 1 year is a massive achievement for me as a reader, as I've never done that before. I am not a particularly fast reader and only do about 15-30 minutes a day, usually.
higgsboson1997
Member
Woah, nice! That is, indeed, a big achievement. Malazan is not an easy read.
As for me, currently making my way through The Shadow of the Torturer (Book 1 of The Book of the New Sun) and The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. Neither is holding my attention particularly well so far, though I must say some of the imagery in TSoT is amazing!
higgsboson1997
Member
It has its dull moments, and the first book can be a slog to get through for many, but it can also often be a very satisfying read. I'd say at least try the first two books before deciding whether you want to stick with it.
WolfForager
Member
Just read the first two books of Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. Writing was a step up from the Mistborn trilogy and I really got into the story. Only annoying thing now is having to wait for the next book to be released, which as far as I know he's only started writing it.
Why start an "Epic Series" of books if you're gonna get distracted and write a load of other books in between? Just get it done Sanderson!
So I've read Wheel of Time, Mistboorn Trilogy and Stormlight Archive in recently, any ideas as to which books I should move onto next? Something along a similar vein as these.
Why start an "Epic Series" of books if you're gonna get distracted and write a load of other books in between? Just get it done Sanderson!
So I've read Wheel of Time, Mistboorn Trilogy and Stormlight Archive in recently, any ideas as to which books I should move onto next? Something along a similar vein as these.
Just read the first two books of Brandon Sanderson's Stormlight Archive. Writing was a step up from the Mistborn trilogy and I really got into the story. Only annoying thing now is having to wait for the next book to be released, which as far as I know he's only started writing it.
Why start an "Epic Series" of books if you're gonna get distracted and write a load of other books in between? Just get it done Sanderson!
So I've read Wheel of Time, Mistboorn Trilogy and Stormlight Archive in recently, any ideas as to which books I should move onto next? Something along a similar vein as these.
No author deserves to be bothered by their fans to write faster, but Sanderson least of all. Dude's a prolific machine and writes entire novels during his "break time" between major releases.
Didn't Sanderson essentially get writer's block for one book, and write the sequel to it while he was figuring out to do? Think that's what's happened with Alloy of Law books 2 &3.
I'm on book 9, and I would say it's not worth reading. Honestly, I could pick 10 different books that would be a more satisfying reading experience than these books. While I've enjoyed the series overall, there are many, many slow parts and many, many pages of just nothing. I do love the world he created and many of the characters. When the series is good, it is REALLY good. It's just the parts in between that are a big downer.
karmaforgotme
Member
Joe Abercrombie's First Law series I really liked, but it wouldn't surprise me if you already read it.
The Stormlight Archive was my first time reading Sanderson, and I loved it. I think his pace is fine considering I started reading ASOIAF over 10 yeas ago. Also I love he updates his website with actual progress of the next book.
That said should I try the Mistborn Trilogy?
Definitely. Great trilogy. I liked it better than the First Law series, but both are pretty entertaining.
Fair enough. So would I be better off with The Wheel of Time series?
I enjoyed the series from start (almost, didn't like the first book very much) to finish. Though the ending left me a bit disappointed and it felt mostly like he was making shit up as he went along (in not the best kind of way). There's still a lot of stuff that's left open by the end of the (main?) series. Still liked it a lot, it has a certain charm to it.
Edit: If you can get through the first book I don't think you'll have a problem with the rest.
WolfForager
Member
Yea, I've heard good things about First Law, I'll give that a try next, cheers!
You should definitely read the Mistborn Trilogy, I preferred the Stormlight Archive but it's a very good read.
The mistborn trilogy is almost the same length as one book in the storm light archive. It's kind of humorous how huge the storm light books are.
Speaking of whixhI need to finish book 2. I got it from the library first day on release but only got a few hundred pages in before I had to return it.
I read Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage. I liked it. I didn't love it. It dragged a bit.
Rolling along with Murakami, I started The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I'm about 100 pages in and I really like it so far.
I should probably read something else that isn't Murakami before the summer is over.
Rolling along with Murakami, I started The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I'm about 100 pages in and I really like it so far.
I should probably read something else that isn't Murakami before the summer is over.
My review of Charlie Jane Anders' All The Birds In The Sky went up on the Barnes & Noble blog today. I absolutely adored it. Doesn't come out until Jan. 2016, but I'll be shocked if it's not in the running for the best of the year.
If you can't tell, I highly recommend it.
I say this to myself as I click buy on amazon.
Haven't had time to read all week but I did pick up Michael Cisco's 'The Narrator' (one of the few times where I read author blurbs and thought 'why not'), along with Samuel Hawley's history of the Imjin War. I was really happy to see the second book on kindle, because the last time I checked, like two years ago, the only version available was going for like 150+.
oh god more books
Plasticine
Member
Finished The Lesser Dead by Christopher Buehlman, Great vampire novel. Exceptionally well crafted. Absolutely captures the vibe of 1978 New York with its fashions, clubs and attitudes. Joey Peacock is an insolent, funny and entertaining creation. Eternally 14 years old, Joey loves getting dressed up in his best clothes for a night of dancing, sex and blood drinking. The mysterious Children who form the central threat of the book are creepy and extremely violent. It deserves every single "best of 2014" list its appeared on.
Up next:
I've had this on my Kindle since it was recommended to me on Good Reads. It was recently a Shirley Jackson award finalist for 2014, which made me finally give it a chance.
Up next:
I've had this on my Kindle since it was recommended to me on Good Reads. It was recently a Shirley Jackson award finalist for 2014, which made me finally give it a chance.
Well, it's not out until January of next year. Presumably aidan will take it upon himself to remind us. Right? :3
The Shadow
Member
Anyone know how to "reset" Goodread recommendations? I've submitted star reviews for a lot of books, but the ones it recommends aren't really books I'm all that interested in. :/
What I'm reading now:
I'm generally not a big fan of Stephen King as I don't like the horror genre, but the premise of this one seemed interesting. A man introduced to time trave, attempts to go back in time to the JFK assassination and attempt to prevent it. Bad things ensue.
So far I really like it a lot.
What I'm reading now:
I'm generally not a big fan of Stephen King as I don't like the horror genre, but the premise of this one seemed interesting. A man introduced to time trave, attempts to go back in time to the JFK assassination and attempt to prevent it. Bad things ensue.
So far I really like it a lot.
Mossybrew
Banned
Yes. Yes. and yes. But of course, opinion and all. IMO the most epic of epic fantasy. Read the series twice and it's better the second time around.
Currently on the last Prince of Nothing book.
Probably the best epic fantasy I've read since Malazan. It's very grimdark and very self-serious, not a hint of the comic relief found in Malazan, but it's great and reminds me of the Dune books (at least the first three before shit went entirely off the rails).
Without disrespecting your opinion I have to ask if you've read the books twice. Because on a second read it is amazing how much shit ties together and how Erikson clearly had a master plan for this story, so I have to totally disagree with this, even on my first readthrough I thought the ending was totally satisfying and brought together threads that had started at the very beginning.
Rug Monkey
Member
Stereogatari
Banned
The Odyssey. It's so fucking good.
You Know Nothing
Member
My review of Charlie Jane Anders' All The Birds In The Sky went up on the Barnes & Noble blog today. I absolutely adored it. Doesn't come out until Jan. 2016, but I'll be shocked if it's not in the running for the best of the year.
If you can't tell, I highly recommend it.
I already have this on my reading list, but this review makes me even more excited.
Hurry up January.
No, only read them once. I mean I did like the books and enjoyed reading them but I don't think I could read them a second time.
Edit: Thinking about it, I don't even remember that much of it now since it's been quite a time since I read them. I know I liked the books a lot but that they had their problems and that I was disappointed by the ending the stuff that was left without a conclusion.
Sounds intriguing. Is that Charlie Jane Anders of io9 by the way?
And is the magic "hidden" or "open" to the public in the world of the book?
Hitting the final 100 pages of Wishsong of Shannara. Don't think I'll have any interest in a Shannara book after this one, at least not for a good while. The original trilogy feels like two pretty good books sandwiching an amazing book. Elfstones of Shannara is just so damn good, while Sword is a slog, and Wishsong feels like a remix so far. Not sure my opinion will change in the final 20 percent of the book, but right now, it's headed for that 3-star goodreads rating.
Rest
All these years later I still chuckle at what a fucking moron that guy is.
I was a bit worried that "Mao's Great Famine" might be overly dry, and end up boring me, but it's really good. Beside having lots of facts and information about the events themselves, it has quotes and stories from people at all levels of China's society during the time preceding and during The Great Leap Forward. The author has taken information from an astounding number of sources to create an account that lets you get in touch with everything that was going on at the time, and the personalities involved. He also makes comparisons (some of them may be conjectures, but they're at least reasonable ones) to what Mao's regime did and what may have actually worked. (Some of them may be conjectures, but they're at least reasonable ones.)
"'Communisms is Great!'" was very good, but one line from the author stating that she never masturbated was just unnecessary. If you're going to tell a lie in a memoir, at least tell one that's believable.
"My Name is Number 4" was entertaining, but probably the least good of these three. That's not to say it wasn't good, it was very very good, but the other two are better.
I'm glad that I'm reading "Mao's Great Famine" last. Reading the other two first, and also having read the book "Wild Swans" a few times years ago, gave me something of a primer on the culture in China that the time. That makes understanding why the seemingly nonsensical things that happened during The Great Leap Forward easier. This book also fills in factual and chronological blanks that I had, and that's lead to a much richer experience in reading this book. I'll have to track down another copy of "Wild Swans" so that I can read it again.
I've got a big stack of books from the library right now, I'm looking forward to reading "Cowardice" by Chris Walsh most.
"'Communisms is Great!'" was very good, but one line from the author stating that she never masturbated was just unnecessary. If you're going to tell a lie in a memoir, at least tell one that's believable.
"My Name is Number 4" was entertaining, but probably the least good of these three. That's not to say it wasn't good, it was very very good, but the other two are better.
I'm glad that I'm reading "Mao's Great Famine" last. Reading the other two first, and also having read the book "Wild Swans" a few times years ago, gave me something of a primer on the culture in China that the time. That makes understanding why the seemingly nonsensical things that happened during The Great Leap Forward easier. This book also fills in factual and chronological blanks that I had, and that's lead to a much richer experience in reading this book. I'll have to track down another copy of "Wild Swans" so that I can read it again.
I've got a big stack of books from the library right now, I'm looking forward to reading "Cowardice" by Chris Walsh most.
The Tragedy of Liberation by the same author who wrote Mao's Great Famine is excellent as well. I would recommend it.
Arkos
Nose how to spell and rede to
Saw this "new" line of HP covers in Barnes and Noble the other day (apparently they've been around for a minute, but they're new to me). I prefer the original ones, the new ones aren't bad, but why does Hermione have dark hair? I don't get it. What the fuck. Didn't want to start a whole thread for this so I'll ask you guys.
Dandy Crocodile
Member
The only thing I can imagine is some lingering Polyjuice Potion effects from her transformation into Bellatrix Lestrange.
Other than that, ????
Methos#1975
Member
Lucy's Child: The Discovery of a Human Ancestor
TestMonkey
Member
Finished Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee. I liked it. While I do agree that the circumstances surrounding its publication are highly questionable I don't understand the backlash over the content of the book. I want to discuss the book but don't want to spoil anything. Maybe I'll start a spoiler thread. Any interest?
Bellatrix disguised Hermoine maybe?
I'm totally down. I read the whole thing in about 6 hours after I bought it. My rating would probably be a 3.5/5 (I gave it 3/5 on Goodreads) because while I enjoyed it, I thought the last act/ending weren't strong enough, it felt like the book needed an additional 30+ pages at least (and sure enough, To Kill a Mockingbird is 100 pages longer).
Anyway, finished Everything I Never Told You, which was fantastic, one of my favorite books in a long time. I would give it 4.5/5, although I rounded down to 4 on Goodreads. Now continuing Modern Romance by Aziz Ansari, which has made me laugh out loud quite a few times in only two chapters.
I am about half way through The Vor Game. It is sort of odd going from a very long novel to a short one. I feel like the book just started, but thinking back on the narrative, I'm definitely in the middle act.
I wish Goodreads offered half star options. A lot of my 4's would probably be 3.5s, but I typically round up.
I wish Goodreads offered half star options. A lot of my 4's would probably be 3.5s, but I typically round up.
Ranger Taffles
Member
I'm actually reading Tragedy of Liberation these days. It's really such a great book reflecting on that part of the history. Not only in terms of factual knowledge, but bringing up the picture of just how bad it was.
Yup, it really changed my impression of the period. For some reason I thought that it was a 'relatively' good time before the Communists started doing a bunch of crazy shit, but nope. I also thought that Mao was more of a deluded idealist than a brutal tyrant, but nope on that as well. I mean, killing ratios? What sick fuck would ever think that was a good idea? And what is worse, they made the people complicit in those crimes, tying them to the regime in some sort of sick perversion of a state.
Although of Course You End Up Becoming Yourself did little for me. I'm not really a member of the cult of David Foster Wallace but here, especially, I feel like the interesting bits of the conversation (the more literary bits) were all excised or at least the tape recorder wasn't running or something, replaced by a misplaced focus on a lot of what now reads as tired, stale cultural commentary. It's really surprising (and disappointing) how little talk there is of, say, Franzen's "Perchance to Dream" essay in Harper's, considering Lipsky brings it up and I'm almost certain Franzen was DFW's best writer friend (and vice versa).
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I'm interested in seeing the film adaptation and seeing how it's adapted (and even if I wasn't, one of my friends is a DFW nut so he's dragging me along for the ride anyways).
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I'm interested in seeing the film adaptation and seeing how it's adapted (and even if I wasn't, one of my friends is a DFW nut so he's dragging me along for the ride anyways).
I give my 3.5s a 3 because of the "I liked it" quote that GR gives that score. Books which are 7 out of 10s are closer to 6s than 8s. Mathematically, I know it's exactly the same, but I still think of 6 out of 10s as books I liked, and 8s as books I "really" liked.