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What are you reading? (March 2010)

Touchdown

Banned
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and

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Just finished American Gods, also by Neil Gaiman which I thought was really dull and boring for the first 300 pages or so but then it redeemed itself toward the end. I'm only on the third chapter of Neverwhere and to me it's already 10x better than American Gods. :D
 

ItAintEasyBeinCheesy

it's 4th of July in my asshole
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Got to hot an bothered at the ending of part 1 and couldnt wait 2 weeks for my copy to arrive so i went and brought one. Good stuff.

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Was also reading this but it may fall to the way side till i finish the Song of Ice and Fire books.
 
eznark said:
What does a bowl of strawberries have to do with the english legal system?
I have now finished the book in question and sadly the reason behind the appearance of strawberries on the cover was not satisfactorily explained.

Anyway, now reading:
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Fonds

Member
Jedeye Sniv said:
If you want to read more Murakami, I've only read Dance Dance Dance but I really enjoyed it. It has a similar sonambulistic feeling to the one you describe, but it also functions as a fairly interesting mystery and has some great characters in it.

Dance Dance Dance is actually a sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase. You don't need to have read the book to understand Dance Dance Dance, but its interesting to know the protagonists back-story before reading Dance Dance Dance... That said a lot of Murakami's books could be read as trilogies or two parters... Its just not really necessary.

I bet reading A Wild Sheep Chase will work as a prequel as well.

Enjoy it ;)
 

C-Jo

Member
hard-boiled-wonderland.jpg


Confession time: I'm 25 and this is the first novel I've read of my own accord since high school. I can't really explain why that happened, but I feel pretty embarrassed about it.

At any rate, I'm a big fan of Suda 51 and I've heard Flower, Sun & Rain compared to Murakami a few times. I ordered this book along with Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle on a whim and I'm really enjoying what I've read so far.
 

stupei

Member
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I'm nearly finished with this. Very short, but it's the first time I've read Winterson in years so I'm enjoying myself. I'd nearly forgotten how much I love her style.
 

desertmunky

Neo Member
I'm currently reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell written by Susanna Clarke. Has anyone else read this book yet? I'm wondering if anyone has anything good to say about it before I get too far into it and it turns out to be crap lol.
 
desertmunky said:
I'm currently reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell written by Susanna Clarke. Has anyone else read this book yet? I'm wondering if anyone has anything good to say about it before I get too far into it and it turns out to be crap lol.

it's great
 
cwmartin said:
So I just finished both World War Z and The Road, but I'm finding it really overwhelming to find a new fiction piece to read. Those are really my first reads in a long time in contemporary literature, and the massive volume and opinions on books leaves me overwhelmed what to pick. Im not exactly looking for a book that covers the same topic, those two were just the stand outs when seeing what people had been reading recently. I was thinking The Dark Tower series or The Last Stand. Anyone help a brother out?

you should really read the dark tower series. i was obsessed with it when i was a teenager. it's something that absolutely stirs the imagination. however, you must stop at book 4. king wrote the last three books post-shark jumped and in a matter of a few months. like the star wars prequels, they don't even exist to me.
 

Blackace

if you see me in a fight with a bear, don't help me fool, help the bear!
desertmunky said:
I'm currently reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell written by Susanna Clarke. Has anyone else read this book yet? I'm wondering if anyone has anything good to say about it before I get too far into it and it turns out to be crap lol.

waiting for her next work to come out
 

thomaser

Member
desertmunky said:
I'm currently reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell written by Susanna Clarke. Has anyone else read this book yet? I'm wondering if anyone has anything good to say about it before I get too far into it and it turns out to be crap lol.

The last third is way better than the earlier parts. If you get bored along the way, don't stop, hang in there!
 

desertmunky

Neo Member
Thank you very much for the insight on my book. It was seeming like a slow starter. Im used to Brian Lumley, Clive Barker, the Dresden Files and similar stuff so I wanted to see what others thought of it. I'll stick with this one. Thanks again. BTW anyone read God of Clocks yet?
 

Kola

Member
Guileless said:
I was supposed to read this book in high school, but I didn't finish it and always felt guilty. I will finally get to it this summer.

Must be an awesome school where thsi book is part of the curriculum. Shame on you that you did not finish it!
 
Finished The Eye of the World last night. I really enjoyed the universe, the characters, and the book in general, but it definitely is a slow read. And can anyone explain to me what happened at the end.
The Forsaken shows up and chases Rand up a cliff. Now they have chords. Now the Forsaken is dead, and Rand is on a bluff overlooking a battle. Now Rand wins the battle. Now he's in front of the Dark One, where they have conversation before Rand smites him with The One power of anti-climax (Frankly, I would have been fine if the Forsaken had been the big fight at the end of this book). Then he's back where he started. So, was he teleporting around or what?

Now, I'm moving on to His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik.
 
desertmunky said:
I'm currently reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell written by Susanna Clarke. Has anyone else read this book yet? I'm wondering if anyone has anything good to say about it before I get too far into it and it turns out to be crap lol.

If you like Victorian stuff, it's a no-brainer. If not, you still might find it amusing enough - either that, or you'll hate it.
 

Guileless

Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
desertmunky said:
I'm currently reading Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell written by Susanna Clarke. Has anyone else read this book yet? I'm wondering if anyone has anything good to say about it before I get too far into it and it turns out to be crap lol.

I really like it, but I have talked to some people who couldn't get into it. It is one of those love-hate books. Some people don't like the quirky atmosphere. It reads better in the dead of winter next to the fireplace.

Kola said:
Must be an awesome school where thsi book is part of the curriculum. Shame on you that you did not finish it!

I know, I still feel bad about it.

Each month usually brings us at least one Wheel of Time post. What is the general consensus on the series? I know it's popular since it's way up there in numbers and the latest book was a high-profile release.
 

Ryu

Member
HamPster PamPster said:
Finished
http://i49.tinypic.com/2els7pf.jpg[IMG]

Thought it was okay. The author tried too hard to sound like a "kid" and the book wraps up way too fast and neatly for my tastes among other issues but I love Greek mythology and the whole mixing modern day with fantasy elements.

Does anyone know if the rest of the series gets better?

Also, anyone want to recommend something that mixes modern day and fantasy like this or Dresden Files?[/QUOTE]

I think book 2 is a loooooot better than 1. Book 3 was alright though as well, I'd say somewhere between 2 and 1 in terms of quality. I still have book 4 and 5 (waiting for paperback) to read though. I can say to at least continue with 2 and if you're still not feeling it, then hey, plenty of other books in the sea.

[img]http://images.barnesandnoble.com/images/45750000/45756665.PNG

Finished this on Monday. Book had me running to the dictionary every now and then, but otherwise a decent read. Some of the details he goes into are a bit much and it can be overly wordy for my tastes. Still though, I can definitely see where it gets its classic status.

Brain needed a bit of popcorn action after that so I'm about 70 pages into this now -

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Like Revelation, it takes quite a bit before we understand where this is all going, but it's nice to read this after playing ME2 since the Illusive Man now has a very clear voice in my head when I read his dialogue. Martin Sheen FTW!
 

Karakand

Member
Monroeski said:
Finally going to start this -

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after a long time of wanting to. Just wasn't interested in devoting the time for this monster before.

Crappy cell phone pic due to not being able to find anything but incredibly small versions of the cover I have on google.
Enjoy!
 

Guileless

Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
I just finished a couple of spy novels that I can recommend.

Winter in Madrid by C.J. Sansom: "The playing fields of Rookwood did little to prepare reluctant spy Harry Brett for the moral no man's land of post–Civil War Spain.. But those halcyon days have made him one of the few people likely to win the confidence of fellow old boy Sandy Forsyth, now a shady Madrid businessman, Franco associate and object of intense curiosity to British intelligence.

Despite his reservations, Brett—whose best friend from Rookwood, Bernie Piper, disappeared in Spain a few years earlier while battling Franco with the International Brigade—accepts the assignment as his duty, and almost as swiftly regrets it."


The English Assassin by Daniel Silva: I've never seen anyone here post about Silva's novels, but they're very popular. He's written about 10 books featuring Israeli art restorer/reluctant hit man Gabriel Allon. This one is about Swiss banks and the Nazi pillaging of European art. This is the third Allon book I've read, and I have enjoyed each one of them. Highly recommended.
 

eznark

Banned
Just finished Then We Came to the End.

Eh. The writing definitely improved the second half of the book, and the Lynn Mason first person section was truly incredible but the rest was pretty ok. The characters and dialog all felt like a cut-rate Aaron Sorkin; verbose, selfish and samey. Every single character was interchangeable. I could see someone saying "that's the point" but it really isn't.

It's worth a read I suppose but I was left disappointed.
 

Kawaii

Member
C-Jo said:
hard-boiled-wonderland.jpg


Confession time: I'm 25 and this is the first novel I've read of my own accord since high school. I can't really explain why that happened, but I feel pretty embarrassed about it.

At any rate, I'm a big fan of Suda 51 and I've heard Flower, Sun & Rain compared to Murakami a few times. I ordered this book along with Kafka on the Shore and The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle on a whim and I'm really enjoying what I've read so far.
First book of Murakami i read was Kafka on the shore, which i really liked, that's about a year ago. After that i bought Windup Bird Chronicle which i thought was great to, even better than Kafka on the Shore.

Right now i'm reading Norwegian Wood, which i bought last week, togheter with A wild sheep chase. (I couldn't decide which one to buy, so i bought both)
 

hoverX

Member
Monroeski said:
Finally going to start this -

el4ls8.jpg


after a long time of wanting to. Just wasn't interested in devoting the time for this monster before.

Crappy cell phone pic due to not being able to find anything but incredibly small versions of the cover I have on google.

just read the summary of this on wikipedia. is it as crazy as it sounds?
 

teknohed

Neo Member
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R. Scott Bakker's 2nd book in the Prince of Nothing series. I'm not really one much for fantasy / swords and sorcery type books, but this guy can write. Great stuff.
 

teknohed

Neo Member
hoverX said:
just read the summary of this on wikipedia. is it as crazy as it sounds?

I have the illuminatus! trilogy on my desk. I started reading it because it was the inspiration for a lot of the KLF's crazy ass "lore". This book is kind of hard to follow, but once you get into the groove, it is totally worth it.
 

Karakand

Member
It was the year when they finally immanentized the Eschaton. On April 1, the world's great powers came closer to nuclear war than ever before, all because of an obscure island named Fernando Poo. By the time international affairs returned to their normal Cold War level, some wits were calling it the most tasteless April Fool's joke in history.
 

eznark

Banned
Now that I am done with that Then We Came to the End trudge time to read something I know I will love. Much needed after two disappointments from Banks and Ferriss. This'll probably take me about 2 days to read so I am wide open to suggestions. Was actually thinking of reading something Warhammer 40k related since Chaos Rising just hit. Also considering the Illuminatus Triology since it seems to be en vogue and I already have it loaded on my nook.

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Kraftwerk

Member
200px-Shutter_Island_book_cover.jpg

Saw the movie so said why not.
And while im here ill ask for a recommendation.My favorite book is The outsider/stranger by Albert Camus.Is there any book out there that is similar to it?
 
A Canticle for Leibowitz is sooooo damn good. I'm not even done with it yet and I can easily recommend it to anyone that enjoys the post-apocalyptic genre. It's already up there as one of, if not my favorite, book in the genre.
 
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Maklershed said:
A Canticle for Leibowitz is sooooo damn good. I'm not even done with it yet and I can easily recommend it to anyone that enjoys the post-apocalyptic genre. It's already up there as one of, if not my favorite, book in the genre.

This man speaks the truth.
 

Guileless

Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
Logos said:
And while im here ill ask for a recommendation.My favorite book is The outsider/stranger by Albert Camus.Is there any book out there that is similar to it?

Try The Moviegoer by Walker Percy.
 

Timo

Member
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Shaping up to be an informative and entertaining read on art, so excited. I know so little about something I want to do for a living, so, I decided to bone up.
 

newsguy

Member
Wanted to chime in and say that I'm quite enjoying Abraham Lincoln Vampire Hunter. It's a neat mix of reality and alternate history. It's good for a quick, fun read.
 
Just finished A Canticle for Leibowitz .. absolutely brilliant. I loved it. I see there's a sequel (published 40 years later!) called Saint Leibowitz and the Wild Horse Woman. Has anyone read this and if so, what did you think? Does it stack up to the original? Even if its half as good, I'd consider checking it out. I see it was pieced together after Miller's death, so that has me a bit worried about it's quality.
 

Guileless

Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
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Reading the annual Cubs essay in BP about how they screwed up the last year is one of life's simple pleasures.
 
D

Deleted member 1235

Unconfirmed Member
last rites by terry pratchett. After that the rest of the discworld books in order except skipping mort, which I've read.

I love his style the books are such an easy read and you can tell he appreciates nonsense.
 

moojito

Member
crowphoenix said:
Finished The Eye of the World last night. I really enjoyed the universe, the characters, and the book in general, but it definitely is a slow read. And can anyone explain to me what happened at the end.
The Forsaken shows up and chases Rand up a cliff. Now they have chords. Now the Forsaken is dead, and Rand is on a bluff overlooking a battle. Now Rand wins the battle. Now he's in front of the Dark One, where they have conversation before Rand smites him with The One power of anti-climax (Frankly, I would have been fine if the Forsaken had been the big fight at the end of this book). Then he's back where he started. So, was he teleporting around or what?

Now, I'm moving on to His Majesty's Dragon by Naomi Novik.

I think there's some kind of psychic link going on between them. I really don't like all the dream-world stuff that goes on here, and there seems to be a lot of it. I'm on book 3.
 

ronito

Member
Just finished "The Last Apocalypse." A nice sum up of the 10th century and the time around 999 A.D.

Also just finished this GAF recommendation
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Thoughts: WHAT. THE. FUCK?! If I sent this to a publisher they'd say "That's nice. Where's the rest?" Seriously, how they could get away with publishing half a book is beyond me . Hobb does a good job setting up good characters (though her propensity to create well defined crazy women while having the men be laughably stereotypical by contrast is readily evident though out ) Gives them an adventure then almost stops midsentence with a "To be continued." She might as well have written something like "Sedric, I have something important to tell you...." To be continued.
Pisses me off to no end. But I'll still get the next book. But she better not do this again (who am I kidding I'd still read them). Also I've never heard of someone folding their lips before this book and it seems that all the characters not only share this mannerism but do it often.

On another GAF recommendation I just started:
name-of-the-wind.jpg

Thoughts so far: I know I'm going to get flak by saying this about a GAF darling but....Come on, really? You're going to start the novel in a Tavern/Inn with an old cantankerous man named "Old <insert name here>" telling a story surrounded by a wide eyed young <insert manly profession here> apprentice, a quiet but wise innkeep and a handful of simple yet ultimately expendable characters in small town of <insert village name here> . Suddenly someone is attacked by <insert evil creature here> which comes as a shock to everyone because they thought they were kept safe by the Mountains/Forest/River (pick one) they worry that the <repeat evil creature name> have come so far already from the East (why is it always the east?) and they're preparing for winter (why does this stuff always happen in Autumn?). Of course there's a person with a companion (who can also handily serve as comedic relief) who knows more than the rest of the hapless town of yokels.

Well, well, looks like Cliche-Mart was having a huge sale and someone bought in bulk. If I start reading about some great wizard and/or warrior in hiding who has to accomplish some task, or get some magical sword or talisman I'm putting this one down for good. I can't help feeling that if this came up for review in the creative writing challenge everyone would jump all over it saying "I've read all of this before." The only thing that keeps me reading for right now is GAF's recommendation truth be told.

Also I had to laugh out loud at the line of "Silence filled the room like cold sweat." Really? I've never seen a room full of cold sweat, in fact I've never seen anything filled by cold sweat.
 

aidan

Hugo Award Winning Author and Editor
ronito said:
Just finished "The Last Apocalypse." A nice sum up of the 10th century and the time around 999 A.D.

Also just finished this GAF recommendation
thedragonkeepercoversmall.jpg


Thoughts: WHAT. THE. FUCK?! If I sent this to a publisher they'd say "That's nice. Where's the rest?" Seriously, how they could get away with publishing half a book is beyond me . Hobb does a good job setting up good characters (though her propensity to create well defined crazy women while having the men be laughably stereotypical by contrast is readily evident though out ) Gives them an adventure then almost stops midsentence with a "To be continued." She might as well have written something like "Sedric, I have something important to tell you...." To be continued.
Pisses me off to no end. But I'll still get the next book. But she better not do this again (who am I kidding I'd still read them). Also I've never heard of someone folding their lips before this book and it seems that all the characters not only share this mannerism but do it often.

Hobb wrote it and submitted it to her publisher as a single novel. Her publisher decided to split it in two and publish each volume six months apart.
 

FnordChan

Member
ronito said:
I can't help feeling that if this came up for review in the creative writing challenge everyone would jump all over it saying "I've read all of this before." The only thing that keeps me reading for right now is GAF's recommendation truth be told.

It's been a while since I've read The Name of the Wind, but I seem to recall that it plays with some of the standard fantasy tropes, so things aren't entirely what they seem. On the other hand, I also seem to recall that my enjoyment of the book was mostly in the telling and that I wouldn't have given it points for originality. If that's what you're looking for, The Name of the Wind may not be the book for you. That said, I'd suggest giving it a bit longer before making a decision; it takes a bit for things to get going properly.

FnordChan
 
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