East of Eden is wonderful, my favourite Steinbeck novel.
I was annoyed when I discovered the famous film adaptation only covers the final third or so, and omits my favourite character entirely.
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What are you reading? (July 2017)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
I was annoyed when I discovered the famous film adaptation only covers the final third or so, and omits my favourite character entirely.
I've been on an IV drip of Stephen King for some months as I've fallen out of reading daily(I think Anna Karenina did me in, just a Verdun of a reading and I did not persevere), but it's picking up again. My two favorites from the past however long are:
Salem's Lot. I read 11/22/63 and IT as well and for my money Stephen King does much better with shorter books. The Shining, a lot of The Dark Tower, and Salem's Lot are all really good fun. Although IT shows a depth to King you almost never see, it's still bloated. Anyway, Salem's Lot is exemplary entertaining, fun reading. A great storyteller sticking to his strengths, I wholeheartedly recommend it.
The Selfish Gene. I guess this is who Dawkins was before going on his crusades against theism? Really interesting perspective on evolution. Fantastic examples of animal behavior, they're worth the price of admission alone. The book drags a bit when he tries to explain family dynamics and such from a genetic perspective, but other than that it's fascinating.
So uh, anyone read something really special lately? I should have kept up with this thread at least. I blame Tolstoy entirely btw.
Salem's Lot. I read 11/22/63 and IT as well and for my money Stephen King does much better with shorter books. The Shining, a lot of The Dark Tower, and Salem's Lot are all really good fun. Although IT shows a depth to King you almost never see, it's still bloated. Anyway, Salem's Lot is exemplary entertaining, fun reading. A great storyteller sticking to his strengths, I wholeheartedly recommend it.
The Selfish Gene. I guess this is who Dawkins was before going on his crusades against theism? Really interesting perspective on evolution. Fantastic examples of animal behavior, they're worth the price of admission alone. The book drags a bit when he tries to explain family dynamics and such from a genetic perspective, but other than that it's fascinating.
So uh, anyone read something really special lately? I should have kept up with this thread at least. I blame Tolstoy entirely btw.
Done with Forward the Foundation.
This was... really bad. I think I was ready to call it quits around midway. Prelude to Foundation wasn't a particularly good book, but finding out more about Trantor and the past was fun at times.
This was really just boring politics and forced development. At some point the book started to become tragedy porn and the last part is utter bullshit.
It's utterly unnatural and entirely forced, like if Asimov went through a checklist of things to connect, and this was the last one left. I know he wrote this just before his death, but it's really rushed.
I'll admit, the ending with
was sad, but that's all I got from the book.
This was... really bad. I think I was ready to call it quits around midway. Prelude to Foundation wasn't a particularly good book, but finding out more about Trantor and the past was fun at times.
This was really just boring politics and forced development. At some point the book started to become tragedy porn and the last part is utter bullshit.
Wanda points out a faulty part of the equation, so it must means she has psychic powers! Time to find more psychics like her.
I'll admit, the ending with
Seldom looking back at his life, and all the sacrifices he made
sparky2112
Member
Reading:
I've known of Sebald's reputation, but nothing more. Native German? Who knew? Apparently, he was a front-runner for the Nobel before he died unexpectedly at 57.
Anyway, this 'novel' is about him walking along towns on the Eastern coast of England, free-associating as he goes. No plot, only historical/cultural tangents that supplement his observations of a decaying rural England. Some of this is *achingly* beautiful, but that raises the question (as it always does) of translation vs. the native text. This won't be the last of him I read.
I've known of Sebald's reputation, but nothing more. Native German? Who knew? Apparently, he was a front-runner for the Nobel before he died unexpectedly at 57.
Anyway, this 'novel' is about him walking along towns on the Eastern coast of England, free-associating as he goes. No plot, only historical/cultural tangents that supplement his observations of a decaying rural England. Some of this is *achingly* beautiful, but that raises the question (as it always does) of translation vs. the native text. This won't be the last of him I read.
karmaforgotme
Member
Hardback:
Don Winslow is starting to become one of my favorite authors. I am 75% done, and while not as good as The Cartel, it has been a really good read.
Audible (unabridged recording):
I own several physical copies of all the LOTR books, and I have read them twice over the years (it is been over 15 since the last time). The unabridged Audible version is amazing (I have an hour left), and Rob Inglis is the prefect narrator for the books. The highlight is anytime he sings one of the songs. I plan on getting the rest once I have fresh credit.
Don Winslow is starting to become one of my favorite authors. I am 75% done, and while not as good as The Cartel, it has been a really good read.
Audible (unabridged recording):
I own several physical copies of all the LOTR books, and I have read them twice over the years (it is been over 15 since the last time). The unabridged Audible version is amazing (I have an hour left), and Rob Inglis is the prefect narrator for the books. The highlight is anytime he sings one of the songs. I plan on getting the rest once I have fresh credit.
sparky2112
Member
I have The Power of the Dog, but haven't read it yet. Obviously, I should prioritize it?
karmaforgotme
Member
God yes, and follow it up with it's sequel The Cartel which is my favorite book by Winslow.
You Know Nothing
Member
Finished today and ended up giving it three stars mainly for the final act. The closing chapters were paced really well, and I actually couldn't stop reading. It was almost like reading a different book for me. The ending came together very neatly and in a way I wasn't fully expecting. I think I'd probably have been less harsh on the rest of the book if the Wood was the one and only focus throughout and everything else had been cut as impractical as that would have been. It seems that the author was really in her element when writing anything to do with the Wood and was sort of going through the motions with everything else if that makes sense. Overall, I'm glad I stuck with it and saw it through to the end. The conclusion retroactively kind of made a lot of the slog in the rest of the book worth it.
The romance is still very dumb and forced tho.
AngmarsKing701
Member
I gave it 4 out of 5 but felt the same in that the beginning 1/3 and ending 1/3 were pretty good, but the middle is pretty bleh. It gets the extra star because it's written well and I like the eastern European setting. I suppose it GR allowed halves, it might be 3.5 for me.
Rug Monkey
Member
I love Steinbeck, love almost everything he's written, mainly for that lovely clear clean seemingly effortless prose that does so much work for him.
If you haven't read Travels with Charley or Cannery Row I recommend those.
IlGialloMondadori
Member
Dandy Lyin
Member
Working my way through the Farseer trilogy for the first time.
I've finished the first two, and just started the third.
Initially I was really put off by Robin Hobb's writing style -- I normally dislike first-person POV, and she really does write walls of text with her paragraphs... but I love these books so much!
I've finished the first two, and just started the third.
Initially I was really put off by Robin Hobb's writing style -- I normally dislike first-person POV, and she really does write walls of text with her paragraphs... but I love these books so much!
EdibleKnife
Member
Need some Gaffer input if anyone's dealt with this before: Got about 1/8th of the way through Dune before putting it down for 7 months. I want to get back to it but sincerely debating restarting it. I don't think I've forgotten that much of the story and should just be able to squeeze back in but with seminal works like this I really feel like it's better to inhale the whole thing rather than pick at it.
Ran into an indie author's blog on Wordpress, and have been engaging in conversations with her through comments. She's been very nice and has written a bit about the process of becoming a published author. I decided to pick up one of her books, because they seem interesting. I read a short story of hers and thought it quite good, so I'm going to start reading this book after I finish Death's Master.
Catling's Bane by D. Wallace Peach
Catling's Bane by D. Wallace Peach
AngmarsKing701
Member
Maybe go back 10-15 pages to make sure it's clicking and you're back into the story.
i started a long way to a something planet something and it's enjoyable so far if a little, i dunno, seems a bit teen fictiony to me for some reason but i've only been reading non-fiction and manga for almost a year now so maybe my perspective has become seriously messed up
i don't even really know what i mean by that other than it's an easy read
i don't even really know what i mean by that other than it's an easy read
Reading the stand by Stephen King atm (and by that i mean i have been reading it for a couple of months, huge book). After completing the dark tower series i have become a little pbsessed with sk, especially all the crossovers. Nearing the end now with about 150 pages and cant wait to see how it all pans out. Hopefully finish it in the next day or two.
EdibleKnife
Member
Yeah I'll go with this. Just rewind a chapter to catch up
karmaforgotme
Member
Finished The Force and FOTR. Winslow is killing it, and of course FOTR is always great to read. Will start on Two Towers later in the month.
Right now I'm reading this book:
Final Girls by Riley Sager (pseudonym)
& I'm listen to
Right now I'm reading this book:
Final Girls by Riley Sager (pseudonym)
& I'm listen to
karmaforgotme
Member
The Cartel is his best book, but it is a sequel to The Power of The Dog which is almost just as good. Both are a serious look at the war on drugs.
Despite the blow back from the movie adaptation I thought Savages (the novel) was good. I've read a couple of his others books like The Dawn Patrol and The Gentlemen's Hour which are more laid back and at times comically.
The Force is the perfect novel if you want to read about dirty cops, corruption, the war on drugs, and racism.
I guess it all depends on your mood.
That's great, thanks for the info.
No Whispersync despite being on Kindle and Audible. That's really annoying.
Went to a bookshop earlier today, and noticed this one:
I had completely forgotten about it, but seeing it reminded me that someone highly praised it in a past thread. So I gave a quick look, the art was pretty effin' great, and I bought it. Will start reading it tomorrow, hope I'll like it. But, just for the art, I already consider it money well spent.
I had completely forgotten about it, but seeing it reminded me that someone highly praised it in a past thread. So I gave a quick look, the art was pretty effin' great, and I bought it. Will start reading it tomorrow, hope I'll like it. But, just for the art, I already consider it money well spent.
Easystride
Member
Thanks for the suggestions! I have added them to my list to read. The only other Steinbeck I have read is Of Mice and Men when I was in high school. I should try to get around to re-reading that as well. I think I will appreciate it much more as an adult.
Funyarinpa
Member
Started to read "S." and I love it. It cost me a lot, bu5 I love everything about the book from its yellow pages to all the inserts to the note-taking characters. I love books that play around with formatting and S. is wonderful
That was me. I hope you enjoy it.
It was pure coincidence that led to my reading to Eastern European-inspired fantasy novels in succession, between Naomi Novik's Polish-flavoured Uprooted and this debut novel from Katherine Arden. While Uprooted was set in a high fantasy world drawing on the real world, The Bear and the Nightingale is a deep plunge into Russian folklore, set in medieval Rus (sometime in the 13th to 15th centuries, probably earlier than later, given that "Tsargrad", i.e., Constantinople, is still talked about as a powerful place). One of the features of the paperback edition, at least, is a glossary of the various terms included in the novel, though I didn't see it until I'd already finished reading it, so it's not particularly useful (you can pick it up as you go along, anyway).
There are any number of stock fantasy story elements here (would you believe that protagonist Vasya is a tomboyish noblegirl who chafes against society's expectations?), but the execution is really terrific, and Katherine Arden's prose is really lovely to read. Much as with Novik's book, I really appreciated the distinctiveness of the setting. I do wonder
if we're perhaps due for writers to come up with some other take on Christianity in medieval fantasy settings apart from "narrow-minded priests repress all the true pagan myths and thus endanger everybody", but the main vehicle for it here, Konstantin, a sexually tormented priest (is there any other kind?), is a fairly well-drawn character overall.
A glance at the back cover while reading inadvertently provided a bit of a spoiler by indicating that
this novel has a sequel in the works, but it works fine as a standalone. It seems like, if this is going to be a series, it's going to be more in the manner of a series of adventures walking the earth than a single mega-arc. I'll certainly read the next one
Next on my reading list:
AngmarsKing701
Member
Perhaps you could have stayed with your eastern European fantasy and chosen Guy Gavriel Kay's Children of Earth and Sky.
I'm about 1100 pages into Yue Guan's Bu Bu Sheng Lin and I'm now fully convinced that he's a good writer. This particular book is somewhat different from the other ones I read in that the tone is a lot darker than the others but the setting of early Northern Song China jumps off the page like usual. So far, his books have been some of the richest historical novels I've ever read and this one is right up there with the others.
By Bujold? How's that possible? I found that book super entertaining from beginning to end.
Already read it (Kay is one of the authors I immediately buy anything new by). Though that's more central European, I'd say.
AngmarsKing701
Member
Me too! One of my favorite authors. And yes, I suppose I'd agree with the central statement, although Constantinople was a setting (briefly).
Its quite similar to another book I read recently. I just liked the story and characters in the previous three books more. This one feels kind of...pulpy?
DiamondDog74
Banned
I'm going to check out the ends of the world by Peter Brannon. Saw a post on here about it. Discusses various extinction events from our past
Atraveller
Banned
Finished The Prince by Machiavelli.
Starting the first Culture novel, it got me hooked.
It is pulpy; that's sort of the point. What other book is similar to Warrior's Apprentice? I'd love to check it out.
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
Just finished the infamous Chapter 11 of Dorian Gray.
Whoo-boy! Talk about the ravings of a madman. Well written chapter but lists after lists of items and descriptions are tough to focus on.
Whoo-boy! Talk about the ravings of a madman. Well written chapter but lists after lists of items and descriptions are tough to focus on.
Maklershed
Member
Finished Everybody's Fool. Didn't quite have the same charm as Nobody's Fool but still a great book full of really fun characters. Definitely worth a read. I love Russo. Now back to the good ol Harry Bosch series with The Closers.
The Closers by Michael Connelly
The Closers by Michael Connelly
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
Just finished Picture of Dorian Gray and loved it. Had NO idea what to expect and was surprised at every turn. Very fascinating, powerfully written story.
Harrison Bergeron
Member
Finished this and was an incredible autobiographic window into a time and place (even if it is certainly embellished memory):
Almost done this and really enjoying ever line of it. Have been through most Joyce, but never this for whatever reason
Almost done this and really enjoying ever line of it. Have been through most Joyce, but never this for whatever reason
So I just finished The Dark Tower. After reading The Gunslinger three years ago, I picked up Drawing of the Three two months ago and blazed through the series. I have to say, the ending was one of the most cruel things in fiction. Some might not see it that way, but I was pretty crushed. That's not to say it isn't a good ending, just not the one I had anticipated.
Maklershed
Member
FYI - One of the best post-apocalypse books of all times imo (very much gives A Canticle for Leibowitz a run for its money) is $1.99 at the moment - World Made by Hand by Kunstler. If you get this book and enjoy it, I can't recommend enough continuing on with the saga as it gets better and better as you go.
World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler
World Made by Hand by James Howard Kunstler