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What are you reading? (March 2011)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
xxjuicesxx
Member
VistraNorrez
Member
Esnel Pla said:
The Stranger - Camus
To Kill a Mockingbird - Lee
Brave New World - Huxley
Beowulf
runlikehell
Banned
Re-reading The Dark Tower series, currently stuck in Wizard & Glass. 
bengraven
Member
Starship Troopers - I'm eating up BSG right now, so I'm finding myself wanting similar works. I created a thread and got some great suggestions of further reading and for now I'm going to finish this and move on to the Honor Harrington novels.
Catching Fire - Been reading the Hunger Games. They're straight up Battle Royale with an American teenage angle and a good dystopian future so I can't stop reading. I enjoy the books, though they're dreeeearily Twilight-ish with a very, very melodramatic female lead occasionally and a tired, but better than Twilight love triangle.
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights - I never realized Steinbeck wrote this, but based on a GAFfer's recommendation I picked it up on Amazon. I'm currently writing a dystopian Camelot novel, so the last two books here have been valuable.
Catching Fire - Been reading the Hunger Games. They're straight up Battle Royale with an American teenage angle and a good dystopian future so I can't stop reading. I enjoy the books, though they're dreeeearily Twilight-ish with a very, very melodramatic female lead occasionally and a tired, but better than Twilight love triangle.
The Acts of King Arthur and His Noble Knights - I never realized Steinbeck wrote this, but based on a GAFfer's recommendation I picked it up on Amazon. I'm currently writing a dystopian Camelot novel, so the last two books here have been valuable.
MacGurcules
Member
Probably my favorite required book I read in school was Brave New World. Scifi was my favorite genre as I was growing up so stuff like BNW, Farenheit 451, and 1984 really appealed to me. Of course, the overarching themes of unjust authoritarianism rather appealed to my inner surly teen rebel.Esnel Pla said:
It took me a while to have appreciation for the more historical stuff but now I count To Kill a Mockingbird and Crime and Punishment among books I enjoyed.
I still don't see what the fuss is over The Catcher in the Rye and The Great Gatsby. I didn't like them then and I don't like them now. Unlikeable, unrelatable protagonists with nonsensical conflicts.
Guileless
Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
New Stephen King book announced, due out in November of this year. Sounds interesting:
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas,
President Kennedy died, and the world changed.
If you had the chance to change history, would you?
Would the consequences be worth it?
Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the studentsa gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunnings father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.
Not much later, Jakes friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insaneand insanely possiblemission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jakes new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jakes lifea life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.
On November 22, 1963, three shots rang out in Dallas,
President Kennedy died, and the world changed.
If you had the chance to change history, would you?
Would the consequences be worth it?
Jake Epping is a thirty-five-year-old high school English teacher in Lisbon Falls, Maine, who makes extra money teaching adults in the GED program. He receives an essay from one of the studentsa gruesome, harrowing first person story about the night 50 years ago when Harry Dunnings father came home and killed his mother, his sister, and his brother with a hammer. Harry escaped with a smashed leg, as evidenced by his crooked walk.
Not much later, Jakes friend Al, who runs the local diner, divulges a secret: his storeroom is a portal to 1958. He enlists Jake on an insaneand insanely possiblemission to try to prevent the Kennedy assassination. So begins Jakes new life as George Amberson and his new world of Elvis and JFK, of big American cars and sock hops, of a troubled loner named Lee Harvey Oswald and a beautiful high school librarian named Sadie Dunhill, who becomes the love of Jakes lifea life that transgresses all the normal rules of time.
Maklershed
Member
For the people reading Washington - how 'dry' is it? Would someone that wants to read it after a long day of work be incredibly bored with it? Or is it more on the level of a David McCullough book where you're learning but its fascinating as well?
MarkMclovin
Member
Just started on Dead Space : Martyr
Alright so far.
Alright so far.
Guileless said:
I for one am terribly surprised at the exotic locale that the main character comes from. King is really shaking things up having Jake come from Small Town, Maine.
Joking aside, that does sound interesting and King's last novel, Under the Dome was the first book I read on my Kindle and I loved it as I have most of King's stuff. So I'll most likely be picking this up when it comes out.
sparky2112
Member
Guileless said:
I like how paragraphs 1 and 2 aren't even remotely related, other than they share a guy named Jake.
sparky2112
Member
Maklershed said:
Well, Chernow has won the Pulitzer for a reason. Still, I think the main draw of this Washington (as opposed to all the others), is how complete Washington's papers are now, versus what other biographers had access to. Still, I've only read the first few chapters, which suffer from what ALL bios of Washington suffer from: his early years just aren't that well known, so all bios breeze through them, which, while not their fault, is frustrating nonetheless. I'm eager to read the rest, however...
UltimaPooh
Member
Guileless
Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
Reading 1,000 page monster hardcovers (which this new King book is supposed to be) is much easier on the Kindle. I haven't read Under the Dome yet but it is popular in these reading threads and most people like it. I haven't read any Stephen King at all since Dreamcatcher. I had a job in school watching the door of a sorority house at night and his long pageturners got me through many nights.
Invisible_Insane
Member
FCIC Report.
I recently got a kindle and I have to resist the urge to buy nearly everything I hear about on public radio/The Daily Show. Anyone have tips for resisting this temptation?
I recently got a kindle and I have to resist the urge to buy nearly everything I hear about on public radio/The Daily Show. Anyone have tips for resisting this temptation?
bengraven
Member
Cyan said:
Oh hey, welcome to the party Cyan! Sorry, someone drank the last of the punch an hour ago, but we put the last of the pizza away in the fridge, so you should be able to get a plate together. Sorry but only anchovies left.
Invisible_Insane said:
Yeah, but I'd get in trouble. hahaha
RepairmanJack
Member
Reading-Gaf I need some help. I haven't really read anything in a while. I think my last novel I read was either A Dirty Job by Christopher Moore or Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon. But lately I haven't really been into reading and haven't been able to get into a book. Well I have Under The Dome that I have been really wanting to read but my concern is will I be drawn in? My only experience with SK is the Dark Tower series and Duma Key. DT series I loved until book 5 at which point I wish I had just stopped reading, and Duma Key I wasn't a fan of at all.
With how I took to the DT series and Duma Key would you recommend Under the Dome? Also taking into account that A Dirty Job and Swan Song may be two of my favorite books I have read in a long time.
With how I took to the DT series and Duma Key would you recommend Under the Dome? Also taking into account that A Dirty Job and Swan Song may be two of my favorite books I have read in a long time.
Invisible_Insane said:
Download samples of everything you are thinking of buying. Let your thoughts on them stew for a day or two before you make any purchases. I find that usually after I do this I realize that hey, I already have 3 dozen other books on the Kindle and on my bookshelf ready to go and while that book sounds interesting, its not interesting enough to drop 10 dollars on when I have plenty of other stuff to read. Plus I find this time allows the NEW SHINY phase to pass on the idea of a book and you can better gauge your actual interest. Of course sometimes you just say fuck it and buy a book right when you see it cause you know you are gonna read nothing else until that book gets read.
Just my two cents that have helped me get over buying like a dozen books in the span of a few hours since I know that the vast majority of those books will not get read immediately.
Guileless
Temp Banned for Remedial Purposes
I do the same as Kawl_USC. Whenever I hear about something interesting or read a review of a book that sounds good, I download the free Kindle sample (or if there's no Kindle version put it on my wishlist). I created a sample folder that has 30-something samples in it that I go through when I feel like trying something new. It's free so there's no reason not to try the sample first.
zero margin
Member
American Gods
I've just read this for the first time, while working my way through a load of the free classics on iBooks & kindle. My only previous familiarity with the story being the Kate Bush song, it was good.thomaser said:
Wuthering Heights by Emily Brontë, for the second time. The Bedford edition with critical studies. Heathcliff is such an awesome character...
Finished reading Better, by Atul Gawande, and Jamie Carragher's autobiography this past week.
Part way through The God Instinct, by Jesse Bering; motivated by the evolution thread.
I finished it just now and I highly recommend it. First time a comic made me tear up, and multiple times to boot. It's a celebration of life and definitely a book that I imagine I will return to more than once.Bliany said:
I will probably start my fourth Murakami book, Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, tomorrow. Looking forward to it.
ncsuDuncan
Member
Currently Reading (Most progress to least):
Philip Pullman - The Amber Spyglass
Dave Barry - History of the Milennium (So Far)
Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion
Douglas Adams - Last Chance to See
Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged
Reading next:
Greg Bear - Halo Cryptum
Jeff Smith - Bone (One Volume Edition)
Frank Herbert - Dune Messiah
I probably have too many in-progress novels, but I tend to jump between them fairly often (i.e. one next to the toilet, one at the nightstand).
Philip Pullman - The Amber Spyglass
Dave Barry - History of the Milennium (So Far)
Richard Dawkins - The God Delusion
Douglas Adams - Last Chance to See
Ayn Rand - Atlas Shrugged
Reading next:
Greg Bear - Halo Cryptum
Jeff Smith - Bone (One Volume Edition)
Frank Herbert - Dune Messiah
I probably have too many in-progress novels, but I tend to jump between them fairly often (i.e. one next to the toilet, one at the nightstand).
Diatribe1974
Member
Warhammer 40k: Ultramarines Omnibus by Graham McNeill:
Next up! The entire Warhammer 40k Gaunts Ghosts series! WooHoo!
Next up! The entire Warhammer 40k Gaunts Ghosts series! WooHoo!
finowns said:He actually said that the third book was likely to come out sooner. But it would take as long as it took to be finished.
He also said he would like to do more stories in the same world. Without Kvothe I don't know how I feel about that.
From what I'm hearing, the third volume, The Doors of Stone, needs as much work as The Wise Man's Fear, due to all the additional/changed content in the first two volumes. I wouldn't start worrying about it until 2014 at the earliest.
HiroProtagonist
Member
aidan said:
Did anyone notice on his acknowledgements page:
"To my clever beta readers, for their invaluable help and toleration of my paranoid secrecy."
He beta tests his manuscripts? Is that normal? And more importantly: How do I become a beta reader?
Tim the Wiz
Banned
zmoney said:
As the poster above says: Right time, right place. It's far too late for that now.
Tim the Wiz
Banned
I've swapped a colossus for a behemoth; finished Wise Man's Fear and started:
It's a bit melodramatic and annoying thus far, but it's the finale of Malazan's main narrative thread, so it's difficult to look away as the largest convergence yet approaches. A pity that so few of the players are ones which populated the earlier books - there has to be a comparative lack of connection with many of these Johnny-come-lately Ascendants and the like. Not far into it, though.
That first one is pretty good and would explain a lot about the severity of her reaction to Kvothe.
Things will not go anything like you think it will if you ask him that.
It's a bit melodramatic and annoying thus far, but it's the finale of Malazan's main narrative thread, so it's difficult to look away as the largest convergence yet approaches. A pity that so few of the players are ones which populated the earlier books - there has to be a comparative lack of connection with many of these Johnny-come-lately Ascendants and the like. Not far into it, though.
finowns said:
That first one is pretty good and would explain a lot about the severity of her reaction to Kvothe.
As to the king Kvothe kills, I've been confused as to whether or not he has done that yet, probably because I haven't read the first volume since it came out. But I guess it would be too neat a story if the ending is that Old (okay, middle-aged) Kvothe has to go on a suicidal rampage to kill the King and end the war he started. Ambrose makes sense, too - although wouldn't a dozen or so people have to die for him to sit on the throne? It would be interesting to see what could make that happen, if it does actually happen.
zmoney said:
Things will not go anything like you think it will if you ask him that.
I haven't read anything in ages, so I decided to tackle "The Book of the New Sun" by Gene Wolfe. I've been hearing that it's the best Sci-Fi/Fantasy book of all time and other similar praise for a while now, so I finally decided to give it a go.
To make a long story short, I almost made it to the end of "Shadow and Claw," which comprises the first two books, when I finally got frustrated with the constant self-indulgence and tossed it.
Gene Wolfe is very clever and he's a good writer, but when the choice is between entertaining the reader and showing how clever he can be, he always chooses the latter option, at least in this series. He's created a fascinating world, but reading his book is like viewing that world through a filthy pane of glass. You pick up specks here and there, but large portions are purposefully hidden so that the author can make the reader work harder. I don't mind being an active participant in the reading experience, but there is a limit to my tolerance for that sort of gamesmanship, and he just crossed it. There were parts of the book that I really liked, but they were too few and too far between.
I may try some of the author's other books at some point in the future because I did see some praiseworthy things, but it won't happen for a while.
To make a long story short, I almost made it to the end of "Shadow and Claw," which comprises the first two books, when I finally got frustrated with the constant self-indulgence and tossed it.
Gene Wolfe is very clever and he's a good writer, but when the choice is between entertaining the reader and showing how clever he can be, he always chooses the latter option, at least in this series. He's created a fascinating world, but reading his book is like viewing that world through a filthy pane of glass. You pick up specks here and there, but large portions are purposefully hidden so that the author can make the reader work harder. I don't mind being an active participant in the reading experience, but there is a limit to my tolerance for that sort of gamesmanship, and he just crossed it. There were parts of the book that I really liked, but they were too few and too far between.
I may try some of the author's other books at some point in the future because I did see some praiseworthy things, but it won't happen for a while.