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What are you reading? (June 2014)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
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TheChocolateWar
Member
Just started reading the Dark Tower series by Stephen King. Its kind of interesting even if I haven't figured out what is going on yet.
Finished:
I liked it quite a bit. It's really refreshing to read something that just simple and pure fun. Magic is flashy and does not seem to follow any apparent rules but that is OK because who needs rules when you can have flying carpets instead
The "reveal" at the ending was quite foreseeable but I certainly want to read more. So I started:
I'm also still listening to:
Which is simply wonderful. Nothing more nothing less. Everyone who at least enjoys fairy-tales a little bit has to read this book.
I liked it quite a bit. It's really refreshing to read something that just simple and pure fun. Magic is flashy and does not seem to follow any apparent rules but that is OK because who needs rules when you can have flying carpets instead
The "reveal" at the ending was quite foreseeable but I certainly want to read more. So I started:
I'm also still listening to:
Which is simply wonderful. Nothing more nothing less. Everyone who at least enjoys fairy-tales a little bit has to read this book.
I should be receiving
and
sometime this week, so that's what I'll be reading this month.
The latter book is a yearly anthology of short horror stories. I love the series, not just for the great stories, but also because it introduces me to writers I haven't heard of before. If you like short horror stories (which is not for everyone, tbh), check out this series.
and
sometime this week, so that's what I'll be reading this month.
The latter book is a yearly anthology of short horror stories. I love the series, not just for the great stories, but also because it introduces me to writers I haven't heard of before. If you like short horror stories (which is not for everyone, tbh), check out this series.
Its good, but can be off putting at the start, so you have to get used to the author's style till it breaks your will and you enjoy it.
Sorry I have allergies and they're curbstomping my head right now and I don't know if that helped you at all.
I liked it very much but as fakefaker said, the narrative structure takes some getting used to and for certain readers that can be a dealbreaker.
It's space opera. I don't have a comparison ready on hand because I'm not well versed in this sub genre but in terms of scope its comparable to Star Wars, with an intergalactic civilization whose history spans millennia serving as the backdrop of the story.
What really sets Ancillary Justice apart is the protagonist, who is the AI of a spaceship. In sci-fi, there is a tendency to write AI as people, with human mannerisms and personalities. By blurring the line between organic intelligence and artificial intelligence, these characters are used to question what it means to be human. Ancillary Justice, however, concerns itself with the other side of the coin: what is life like as an AI? That's what makes Ancillary Justice a singular story in my eyes and one of my favorite books in recent years.
postcyberpunk
Banned
Fuck. Yeah. Awesome poetry: the scientific, with the philosophic, with the particular. Everything that is right with contemporary poetry.
If you liked that you may dig this:
EverythingShiny
Member
About to finish:
Then onto:
In the past month I've read 7 Michael Connelly books. Even though some of the things that will happen are a bit predictable (Harry hooks up with some woman who doesn't stick around, Harry gets in trouble with his superiors, etc.) I really love Harry Bosch and Connelly is a great mystery writer. I'm reading all his books in publication order and I'm looking forward to getting into the Mickey Haller series since I loved The Lincoln Lawyer movie.
Then onto:
In the past month I've read 7 Michael Connelly books. Even though some of the things that will happen are a bit predictable (Harry hooks up with some woman who doesn't stick around, Harry gets in trouble with his superiors, etc.) I really love Harry Bosch and Connelly is a great mystery writer. I'm reading all his books in publication order and I'm looking forward to getting into the Mickey Haller series since I loved The Lincoln Lawyer movie.
Same here. Bloody loving it.
How is that series? I have the 1st book but I haven't started it yet. Just came off reading ASOIAF and right now I'm reading:
Maklershed
Member
AngmarsKing701
Member
Here's a different perspective:http://www.hughhowey.com/winning-at-monopoly/
AngmarsKing701
Member
I haven't read this yet (http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00JUC8PN8/?tag=neogaf0e-20) but a friend of mine from college wrote the intro. It's on my to read list, but I tend to read horror in the fall for moody reasons.
Mackenzie 92
Member
finished up
Under the Skin by Michel Faber
was just OK for me. ending wasn't real satisfying and Isserley started getting on my nerves by the end.
will still check out the movie.
loving this so far
Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation by Blake J. Harris
got prince of fools on tap next
Under the Skin by Michel Faber
was just OK for me. ending wasn't real satisfying and Isserley started getting on my nerves by the end.
will still check out the movie.
loving this so far
Console Wars: Sega, Nintendo, and the Battle that Defined a Generation by Blake J. Harris
got prince of fools on tap next
Finished up A Dog's Purpose. Really loved it, just debating how to review it since I do think I prefer 'The Art of Racing in the Rain' that I read earlier this year. So maybe I'll give it 5/5 since it's easy to recommend, but just denote it to a 4.5/5. Certainly makes me wish I had a dog =( I can definitely see why you like it so much Mack.
The hardcover sequel is actually on sale at Chapters for a few bucks, so I might just go pick that up and start that next. What's interesting though is that while I was reading it, I was thinking to myself how great it is to be reading something that feels like it could only be a book, and wonder how the heck a movie like this would be, and sure enough, in the acknowledgements, it says it's going to be a movie soon.
The hardcover sequel is actually on sale at Chapters for a few bucks, so I might just go pick that up and start that next. What's interesting though is that while I was reading it, I was thinking to myself how great it is to be reading something that feels like it could only be a book, and wonder how the heck a movie like this would be, and sure enough, in the acknowledgements, it says it's going to be a movie soon.
nakedsushi
Member
Death of a Red Heroine by Xiaolong Qiu
It was good for a police procedural set in Shanghai in the 90s. I liked the different perspective, all the passages about food and tea, but I could do without all the poetry. I wonder if the other books in this series are better because this first one was a bit meandering in the middle.
BrokenFiction
Member
Deep in the middle of Karl Schroeder's Lady of Mazes right now:
It's a prequel to his novel Ventus and takes a look at what technologies would be available to a post-human (or nearly post-human) society, and what they might mean to us. And in particular, what would it mean to have them taken away. Characters in the novel grow up with the availability of a ever present virtual reality called Inscape, that they can live in and out of at a moments notice.
Jo Walton (Hugo and Nebula award winner), did a nice write up on it here.
It's a prequel to his novel Ventus and takes a look at what technologies would be available to a post-human (or nearly post-human) society, and what they might mean to us. And in particular, what would it mean to have them taken away. Characters in the novel grow up with the availability of a ever present virtual reality called Inscape, that they can live in and out of at a moments notice.
Jo Walton (Hugo and Nebula award winner), did a nice write up on it here.
8BitsAtATime
Member
Im liking it
Just started this one, recently bought a Kobo Aura HD(beautiful screen) and this is the first book I will read on it.
Ziltoidia 9
Member
Just finished:
The final two hundred pages in Ways of King is some god-tier stuff. Words of Radiance is a kick-ass second installment.
How is this? It's been a long while since I touched a Hitchens book.
postcyberpunk
Banned
Have we ever done a poetry book for book of the month?
Yeah its a brilliant series. Never read anything from this author before. But decided to based on GAFs opinions. GAF, Never lets me down!
Highly recommend it mate!
Yeah, im blazing through this book....well blazing for me anyway!
internet fist bumped back!
Maklershed
Member
I don't believe so. Here's Cyan's list ...
The Making of the Atomic Bomb by Richard Rhodes (April 2014)
Mother Night by Kurt Vonnegut (Mar 2014)
Blindness by José Saramago (Feb 2014)
The Quiet American by Graham Greene (Jan 2014)
If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino (Sept 2013)
Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (July 2013)
Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (Feb-Mar 2013)
The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (September 2012)
Catch-22, by Joseph Heller (January 2012)
The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (December 2011)
Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West, by Cormac McCarthy (Oct 2011)
The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov (Sep 2011)
The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas (Aug 2011)
Master and Commander, by Patrick O'Brian (July 2011)
The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin (June 2011)
A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan (May 2011)
The Afghan Campaign, by Steven Pressfield (Apr 2011)
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein (Mar 2011)
Flashman, by George MacDonald Fraser (Feb 2011)
Tragicomedy did a few book club threads too but he didn't do any poetry books.
Death of a Red Heroine by Xiaolong Qiu
It was good for a police procedural set in Shanghai in the 90s.
ooooooooh.
ooooooooooooooooooooooooooh.
I like this combination of words
Jintor, I've been meaning to ask you, have you heard of Midnight Sin by Michael Tabman? It's on my to-read list someday, but it seems like it would be right up your alley to check out asap, so I'd be curious on your thoughts if you read it sometime.
Death of a Red Heroine by Xiaolong Qiu
It was good for a police procedural set in Shanghai in the 90s. I liked the different perspective, all the passages about food and tea, but I could do without all the poetry. I wonder if the other books in this series are better because this first one was a bit meandering in the middle.
I was looking at this last night after watching Young Detective Dee: Rise of the Sea Dragon as I wanted something to read like the movie. Thanks for posting the review!
Yeah, you've been all about the true crime, police procedural, crime fiction, etc etc, so I thought I'd point that out to you. Could be a hidden gem that I'd like as well.
The funny thing is I haven't read that many, technically speaking. I read a lot of sample chapters and drop a lot before I actually buy the books
Ziltoidia 9
Member
It is my first time to read him, but its as witty as he talks, very interesting and contains a lot of references to authors I haven't heard of, at least so far. I'd say give it a go and read it.
Wiktor
Member
Finished:
Mixed feelings. The setting is nice and it's written well, but the book is very passive, the lead just gets ferried around for a sight seeing tour. Will take a break before I start the next one
Started reading:
Very very nice so far. Love the series.
And I'm almost done with listening to
It's slightly weird, because barely anything dramatic has happened up untill the point I've reached and yet I'm loving it. Really sells the whole amusement park life. The way King narrates is just plain wonderful and he got some truly remarkable lines there. Ones that made made me stop during walks and pause the file because I needed a moment to go "WOW"
Mixed feelings. The setting is nice and it's written well, but the book is very passive, the lead just gets ferried around for a sight seeing tour. Will take a break before I start the next one
Started reading:
Very very nice so far. Love the series.
And I'm almost done with listening to
It's slightly weird, because barely anything dramatic has happened up untill the point I've reached and yet I'm loving it. Really sells the whole amusement park life. The way King narrates is just plain wonderful and he got some truly remarkable lines there. Ones that made made me stop during walks and pause the file because I needed a moment to go "WOW"
currently half into The Emperor of All Maladies
but need a break of it. So started yesterday Shift (Silo #2)
so far it's good.
btw. i need your help Book-GAF.
my girl friend is into the Jack Reacher Books and read them all. I'm not a huge fan of this books, but i need some recommendations for our vacations for her. Any suggestions? Already suggested the Bourne books, but she "knows" the movies and don't like them either (wtf...) Any suggestions are appreciated.
but need a break of it. So started yesterday Shift (Silo #2)
so far it's good.
btw. i need your help Book-GAF.
my girl friend is into the Jack Reacher Books and read them all. I'm not a huge fan of this books, but i need some recommendations for our vacations for her. Any suggestions? Already suggested the Bourne books, but she "knows" the movies and don't like them either (wtf...) Any suggestions are appreciated.
Wiktor
Member
The whole Creasy series by A. J. Quinnell. Man on Fire movie was based on the first one, but there's a lot more and even that first entry is completely differnt in novel format aside from the very basic premise of a guy taking vengeance for a little girl dying.
From more recent books Mitch Rapp series by Vince Flynn is excellent too.
Baron Doggystyle von Woof
Member
Interesting book. On page 20 now so I can't say much about it yet.
Also reading the song of ice and fire series.
Too practical!... is when you go to the library?
I actually don't have my library card for here in NYC. D:
nakedsushi
Member
I bet NYC library has a great ebook lending system. If you have a kindle, you should check it out.
Heh, the Inspector Chen series is a different time period (more modern day) and is not fantasy at all, but if you want to read something set in China, then go for it.
postcyberpunk
Banned
Interesting... you guys up for one?
Finished reading Delusions of Gender, very informative, lots of stuff I had no idea can affect how someone thinks or approaches career choices, hobbies, and so on. The test scores studies were pretty interesting, subtle changes to wording or environment can have a decent effect on the choices of people. It's also pretty depressing to read all these old statements from scientists about how women think or what they are capable of doing. Wonder how 100 years from now, how people will look at our current studies and conclusions regarding gender.
Also finished reading The Lifecycle of Software Objects. A pretty interesting story on how developing a human AI might look if we had the technology. The approach would be to raise virtual pets, but with infinite potential at growing from experience and learning from their environment. I liked some of the ideas explored, but ultimately the story never explored the concept in great enough details to connect with me on the same level as Asimov's short stories.
Thanks, will add it to the backlog, been searching for some modern poetry.Fuck. Yeah. Awesome poetry: the scientific, with the philosophic, with the particular. Everything that is right with contemporary poetry.
If you liked that you may dig this:
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