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[Hari Seldon]

Just finished this one.

My short review: A breezy read with lots of geek culture comedy that hits pretty well. Not the best book in the world but it is definitely a fun book. Good for a light entertaining read while on vacation or something.

I have to decide to continue with this series or move on to Neal Stephenson's Seveneves.

 

[ryseing]

I haven't read GGS, but I have heard that there were criticisms about his methodology and it put me off wanting to read it. What were the issues with it?

Quick Googling- http://www.livinganthropologically.com/anthropology/guns-germs-and-steel/

https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/wd6jt/what_do_you_think_of_guns_germs_and_steel/- /r/askhistorians is actually a really good resource for this sort of thing. Every user has to either be a confirmed historian or provide quality sources.

More specific answer-https://www.reddit.com/r/AskHistorians/comments/vd2u9/why_did_technology_advance_faster_in_europe_and/c53gp6a

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Those AskHistorians takedowns of GGS are cogent as rebuttals or refinements of some of his specific points, but I've never seen a good refutation of the overall argument of the book.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Just finished this one.

My short review: A breezy read with lots of geek culture comedy that hits pretty well. Not the best book in the world but it is definitely a fun book. Good for a light entertaining read while on vacation or something.

I have to decide to continue with this series or move on to Neal Stephenson's Seveneves.

Do you read his online comic?

I've read the second and the third is in my queue. If you liked the first the second is more of the same, and that can be good or bad. I feel like the series iscomparable to Ready Player One with the references but since the 'wizards' span so many different decades, the references do as well.

A funny thing happened to me on the way to an Audible checkout. I put The Goblin Emperor into my cart via the product page. I went to check out and it was missing. I searched for the book again and when you click the link it gives me this message:

Product Not Available

The audio product you're looking for is not available for purchase right now. We know this is frustrating, and apologize for the inconvenience.

There are a number of reasons this might have happened:


• It could be an audio problem. Sometimes we discover an audio defect so severe that we decide it's not fair to sell the book. When this happens, we work with the publisher to get the audio repaired and back in the store as quickly as possible.
• It might be a digital rights issue. Sometimes a publisher loses the rights to a program and requires us to remove it from our store. When this happens, another publisher may pick up the rights and we could eventually offer that program again.


If you are trying to access a book, radio show, or periodical that you already purchased, in most cases you can still download it from My Library. You will not be able to get to the product page to see all the details, but you should be able to download the audio.

If you have reached this page from another website, it may be an outdated link. We work with our partners to make sure their links to us are up to date, but sometimes it's out of our control.

If the reasons above do not seem to apply to you, or you'd just like to report this problem, please email badlink@audible.com and tell us what product you were looking for and where you found the bad link. Your email will be read and evaluated, and we'll do our best to respond to your issue within a few days.


Thanks for your help -

The Audible Team

What the hell?

Saw this pop-up in the pre-order page:

The Girl in the Spider's Web: A Lisbeth Salander novel, continuing Stieg Larsson's Millennium series

Uh, OK?

Also, you can pre-order Locke & Key for free here.

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Doubly weird then because it still sends me here: http://www.audible.com/pderror

Nope, now it's working again. Triply (is that a word?) weird. Better buy it fast before it messes up again.

 

[Mumei]

I finished City of Stairs a couple days ago, and I'm now started on The Sweetness at the Bottom of the Pie by Alan Bradley.

Flavia is charming protagonist so far.

 

[Hanzou]

I read this many moons ago (I actual purchased the hardback when it originally came out), and I remember prefering the stuff about constructing the World's Fair over the serial killer stuff. I became a big fan of Olmsted because of this book.

Also Larson's Isaac's Storm is pretty amazing too.

So it's good then? Picked it up at a book see for $1 and have not started it yet.

 

[karmaforgotme]

So it's good then? Picked it up at a book see for $1 and have not started it yet.

Isaac's Storm? It was the first book I read by him after reading a review in EW. If you like his style of non-fiction you can't go wrong with it. There is some pretty horrible stuff in the book (made 100x more horrible by being non-fiction), and the weather forecasting history I found fascinating.

 

[Hanzou]

Isaac's Storm? It was the first book I read by him after reading a review in EW. If you like his style of non-fiction you can't go wrong with it. There is some pretty horrible stuff in the book (made 100x more horrible by being non-fiction), and the weather forecasting history I found fascinating.

Sorry I was referring to devil in the white city there.

 

[Mumei]

Sorry I was referring to devil in the white city there.

I enjoyed it, though I must confess that I found the segments about the World Fair far more engaging than the sections about H.H. Holmes. You may also want to be aware that the author makes rather frequent attempts at entering the heads of his 'characters' in ways that it's not always immediately clear whether this is based on some source or if he's just engaging in speculation based off of what was likely. The sections with Holmes in particular suffer from this, I thought.

 

[fakefaker]

Anyone here this about Amazon?

Amazon accused of 'Big Brother' tactics over customer reviews

 

[Maklershed]

I've recently imposed a book purchasing restriction on myself since my backlog is out of control and ever since then I've been wanting to buy every book I see. I think I need help.

(Someone please tell me it's ok to lift the ban temporarily to buy Father and Son)

 

[sparky2112]

Anyone here this about Amazon?

Amazon accused of 'Big Brother' tactics over customer reviews

Look, there's a ton of self-pub garbage out there with glowing reviews. The whole thing is a friggin' mess (not to mention scam). Amazon excels at odious behavior, but I'm giving them a pass on this one.

 

[Mumei]

I've recently imposed a book purchasing restriction on myself since my backlog is out of control and ever since then I've been wanting to buy every book I see. I think I need help.

(Someone please tell me it's ok to lift the ban temporarily to buy Father and Son)

Go read a book you own.

 

[Haly]

Look, there's a ton of self-pub garbage out there with glowing reviews. The whole thing is a friggin' mess (not to mention scam). Amazon excels at odious behavior, but I'm giving them a pass on this one.

Same.

 

[Maklershed]

Go read a book you own.

Oh I am - a great one. Namely, Sneaky People. If the year were to end now I think I could confidently give it my book of the year award. Even beating out Stoner.

 

[Mumei]

Oh I am - a great one. Namely, Sneaky People. If the year were to end now I think I could confidently give it my book of the year award. Even beating out Stoner.

Who is the author?

 

[Maklershed]

Who is the author?

Thomas Berger. If I didn't know better I'd swear he must've lived in the 1930s. He seems to have so much intimate knowledge about the time and brings it to life so vividly.

 

[old manatee]

I just got a new library card and took out Wolf In White Van. I'm pretty sure I used to read more when I had a deadline.

 

[Mumei]

Thomas Berger. If I didn't know better I'd swear he must've lived in the 1930s. He seems to have so much intimate knowledge about the time and brings it to life so vividly.

I will check it out!

Yeah, I doubt this will even fix things. Anytime I see a well-reviewed self-pubbed book I'm skeptical. :/

Is this why you haven't read Dead Endings yet? Tsk.

I just got a new library card and took out Wolf In White Van. I'm pretty sure I used to read more when I had a deadline.

Besada will be pleased.

 

[aidan]

Yeah, I doubt this will even fix things. Anytime I see a well-reviewed self-pubbed book I'm skeptical. :/

On the flip side, it's time we start putting aside this skepticism and recognizing that there's a lot of good material being self-published these days.

 

[Mumei]

Of course there can. The point is, if I look at a self-published book and see great reviews I haven't gained any information on whether or not it's a good book.

In fairness, that can also be true of traditionally published books with large (or at least aggressive) fanbases. I know how you feel about Divergent, for instance: Look at the reviews it has. 70% are 5 star reviews, and the top-rated 4 star review is still glowing. And it can also be true for traditionally published books that have only been discovered by a few people. There are several books I've read where I'm the only person on Goodreads who has rated it, and there aren't any Amazon reviews.

 

[Haly]

I just wait for dresden to read some good self pub stuff and then tell me about it.

 

[Dresden]

I just wait for dresden to read some good self pub stuff and then tell me about it.

what are u implying m8

 

[Mumei]

This is great tbh:

I knew you would gravitate towards that. <3

 

[Haly]

Dystopian YA Novel &#8207;@DystopianYA Apr 19
When People Are Categorized By A Single Defining Trait, One Girl Will Rise Above. Because Her Single Defining Trait Is Being Different.

.

 

[You Know Nothing]

Literally the plot of Divergent in a single tweet.

The best account on Twitter.

 

[Piecake]

Speaking of Amazon reviews, I am rather hesitant to read Queen of Fire by Anthony Ryan because it is just getting absolutely destroyed at amazon. Goodreads looks a lot better, but amazon made me somewhat mistrustful.

I wouldnt have cared about the reviews if I loved the second one like I did Blood Song, but I only thought the second one was only pretty good.

 

[Glitchfire]

Space by James Michener.

Pretty awesome so far, especially if you like WW2 & The Space Race.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Finished The Ocean at the End of the Lane. Fantastic book. Classic Gaiman. Really loved the prose. 5/5 from me.

Now starting A Crucible of Souls by Mitchell Hogan.

 

[Goody]

I finally graduated and got a teaching job and now that it's summer I'm actually reading again. I wanted to dive into some new stuff, so I picked up some Haruki Murakami. I started with the more magical-realism stuff. I read Kafka on the Shore and loved it and now I'm reading Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and am also loving it. I've got a copy of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle in the mail, so hopefully that arrives for me before I finish this other. If it doesn't I'll throw in something smaller.

I'm just so very, very glad to be able to find the time to read again. I didn't know I missed it this much.

 

[roosters93]

I'm currently reading through Judd Apatows book "Sick in the Head"

thanks for posting, sounds good!

I'm working my way through Bill Bryson's "Down Under" (known by a few names I think) which details a few of his trips in Australia. As an Australian it's quite amusing to read an outsider's take on everything. I read my first Bryson book the other week (Mother Tongue) and his non-expert populist tone is an ease to read.

 

[jakomocha]

You are in the right place, though I haven't read any of the books that you've listed as your options. I've heard good things about Wuthering Heights, The Kite Runner, and The Secret History, but I couldn't endorse those myself.

What grade are you in?

Going into 10th grade.

Kite Runner is pretty good.

Go for it! It's a genuinely harrowing, surprising piece of literature even today. Cast away old-fashioned ideas about 'likeable characters' (I've seen too many complain they can't find any here) and embrace the chaos and destructive powers of this universe. Besides, they're unlikeable for a reason. I'll leave it to someone better to wax poetic:

Okay, thanks. I'll probably check out one of these (or maybe even both).

 

[mu cephei]

Speaking of Amazon reviews, I am rather hesitant to read Queen of Fire by Anthony Ryan because it is just getting absolutely destroyed at amazon. Goodreads looks a lot better, but amazon made me somewhat mistrustful.

I wouldnt have cared about the reviews if I loved the second one like I did Blood Song, but I only thought the second one was only pretty good.

Wow @ the difference between the Amazon and the Goodreads ratings.

I thought Blood Song was excellent, but that Tower Lord was mediocre at best. I wasn't going to read the third, but those Amazon reviews are so bad I almost want to, just to see how much he could mess up a good thing.

 

[Piecake]

Wow @ the difference between the Amazon and the Goodreads ratings.

I thought Blood Song was excellent, but that Tower Lord was mediocre at best. I wasn't going to read the third, but those Amazon reviews are so bad I almost want to, just to see how much he could mess up a good thing.

You should! That way you can tell me if it is any good or not

 

[xxracerxx]

Just started Caliban's War after finishing Leviathan Wakes. Kind of the same thing as the first but still an enjoyable easy read.

 

[besada]

I just got a new library card and took out Wolf In White Van. I'm pretty sure I used to read more when I had a deadline.

You're my hero. Hope you enjoy it.

I just finished reading Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson, which is a grim take on generational longships. I really enjoyed it, although in the wake of The Martian and Seveneves, it was strange to read yet a third novel obsessed with growing crops in subpar conditions.

 

[NandyRewman]

I finally graduated and got a teaching job and now that it's summer I'm actually reading again. I wanted to dive into some new stuff, so I picked up some Haruki Murakami. I started with the more magical-realism stuff. I read Kafka on the Shore and loved it and now I'm reading Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World and am also loving it. I've got a copy of The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle in the mail, so hopefully that arrives for me before I finish this other. If it doesn't I'll throw in something smaller.

I'm just so very, very glad to be able to find the time to read again. I didn't know I missed it this much.

What did you think of the ending of 'Kafka on the Shore'?

 

[Mighty Chin]

Alloy of Law by Brandon Sanderson

 

[420bits]

So after the first book from the Tales of the Otori I took a break and read The Martian.

Started yesterday and just finished it.

Awesome book! I really liked it (Tales of the Otori seems to be pretty decent as well)

 

[Jelly Rajah]

2666 by Roberto Bolano.

Goddamn this book is fucked up. I love it

 

[Stasis]

This is great tbh:

That review is hilarious. And accurate. Even if I was mildly entertained by the series. I blame my gf and her YA addiction. Yeah.

I'm reading Peter V. Brett now, Demon Cycle #3. It's not in my top rank fantasy but its a fun ride, easy reads and a lot of potential in regards to the world he's set up and where he can take the story in the forthcoming novel. I'll likely read through 3-4 and then circle back around whenever #5 is released.

That's the problem with reading incomplete series. Having to come back a year or more down the line and get back into it. Takes a while.

 

[Easystride]

The Last Leaves Falling

It's a book about a 17 year old Japanese boy diagnosed with ALS.

I came across this book on the list of new eBooks on my library's Overdrive site, and it sounded interesting. It has been a very good read so far. About 30% done with the book already today despite being very busy.

 

[mu cephei]

You should! That way you can tell me if it is any good or not

lol. When it's available second-hand for a penny I might.

 

[hardcastlemccormick]

Just finished Nevil Shute's On The Beach

The atomic war is over. Everyone will die. Australians cope.

I liked this book a lot. I initially thought, wow this would make a great movie. My shock that one exists, with Gregory Peck! I'll have to give it a watch soon. The ending scenes in particular are all incredibly powerful and written with just enough vibrant detail to punch anyone right in the gut.

The book mostly follows how the characters deal with their approaching doom. Simple symbology is employed to show that these characters avoid or only distantly examine their radioactive deaths until absolutely necessary. The book doesn't even acknowledge the characters will meet their doom until 50 pages in (though they often punctuate their thoughts with, "well it won't matter very soon" which is a big hint). The characters' motivations and reactions are all believable and heartbreaking, changing believably as their time draws near. This runs parallel to society at large, which I found believable and equally well developed. I also liked the secondary theme of the book - in the end, the armies and nations no longer matter, it's the family that dies in their homes before their time that's the real tragedy.

My only real issue (aside from over-length) is the character of Mary Holmes, a foolish silly housewife with ridiculous complaints that her husband must - with good humor - keep in place. Her continual childish un-reasonability is the only major leftover from the novel's 1950's birthplace (minus the obvious cold war era paranoia). Aside from that blight, the book is surprisingly powerful, sneaking up on you with one scene after another, each wonderfully portrayed and nailing an emotional state that I just can't get out of my mind. I wouldn't be surprised if it was a touchpoint for modern works of similar tone, such as Children of Men or the Earth bits of Seveneves, but it deserves to stand on its own merit.

 

[fakefaker]

Wrapped up The Slynx by Tatyana Tolstaya. It's alot like A Clockwork Orange, but based on the Soviet state and after a nuclear war. It's gets pretty warped at times, was mostly enjoyable, but dragged on in parts. Don't think I'd ever read it again heh.

Now happily onto Beyond Redemption by fellow Canadian Michael R. Fletcher, which I've been looking forward to for a while.

 

[Goody]

What did you think of the ending of 'Kafka on the Shore'?

I'm having a hard time articulating this, but very pleased overall. I was much more satisfied with Nakata and Hoshino's side of the story, in terms of how I was reacting to it emotionally and how engaged I was with the plot. I felt a bit off regarding how Kafka's story resolved, but probably because I was just much less engaged with the plot after

Spoiler

Kafka came back home

.

 

[Nymerio]

Done with Mountains of Mourning and The Vor Game. Mountains was good if a little predictable but I loved The Vor Game. Next up: Cetaganda.

 

[Dispatch]

I just finished Theft of Swords and started Rise of Empire immediately. The prose isn't anything that resembles literature, but it's a fun page-turner, for sure. I just wish he didn't telegraph his twists quite so much.

 

[TTG]

Finished Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk tonight.

Surprisingly light and moment to moment considering the targets it lined up at the outset. I suppose if you're looking for something definitive, particularly insightful or scathing this isn't the book. Feeling smug against the mouth breathing patriotism on display is about as far as it goes. But, here's the good news: it's written really well. Not only is it captivating, but it will make you cheer for the characters, snigger out loud about once every 10 minutes and flat out feel positive at the end of every reading session.

I can totally see why it won awards and garnered so much praise. And in case you're wondering, the actual scene at halftime is incredible. It's David Foster Wallace on assignment, it's funny and earnest and sad... it's a lot of great things. Are there other great Iraq war based novels out there? This one doesn't take place in Iraq, but it fits the mold.