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[Donthizz#]

Fantastic so far!

I'm getting into this as soon as I finish,

 

[frbrr]

About halfway through, great so far.

 

[gabbo]

Grabbed these this afternoon to read when I've completed "That Is All"

Not this edition, but I've wanted to get back into Dostoevsky since I finished school (always wished I took more philo classes):

And because I've always wanted to read it:

Thinking Kafka and Philip K Dick next.

 

[KamikazeTY]

Has anyone read Five Years to Freedom by James Rowe?

My wife is forcing me to read it. She knows I'm a war buff and was shocked I have never read it.

 

[echoshifting]

No kidding. I picked up JS&MN when it first came out in hardback on a whim and have been waiting ever since.

Has there been any info on the followup? All I heard would be that it would focus on middle or lower class magicians this time.

I don't know much more than you, I'm afraid. Just that it's a bit further down the timeline.

As hard as the wait has been, I can appreciate that it is taxing work. JS&MN is one of the most intricately detailed, well-researched novels I've ever read. And that's only half the work...to weave all that into fantasy in a convincing way...I can't even imagine.

To say nothing of its length.

 

[Buckethead]

Just started

 

[Bazza]

Decided to start reading Bernard Cornwell's Sharpe books, gonna to work through them chronologically rather than when they were first released.

Just picked up Sharpe's Tiger to start.

 

[sazabirules]

I just started Tokyo Vice and am enjoying it so far. I had just finished Ready Player One. It had a slow start but I couldn't put the book down as I progressed through it.

 

[sparky2112]

Finished this. I liked it but didn't love it. Mantel has a very 'detached' style of storytelling, and I'm sure she works very hard to write that way. She somehow keeps Cromwell a bit of an enigma, even though he's on every page of the book. It's quite a trick she's pulling off, and I can see why it won the Booker, I guess. I'll read the next book for sure, but it's not something I'm going to rip into Day 1.

I used to be a far less critical reader, and I sort of miss that old me sometimes. This is one of them. The history is interesting enough, sure, but Larson needs his ass kicked a bit. If you're describing show something looks or feels or what someone thought, you had BETTER be getting that from a source other than your head. Just crap like when Holmes relates a story about being bullied and then Larson says something like, 'Knowing Holmes, it was probably HIM doing the bullying.' WTF? Or his description of the old lady whose pharmacy Holmes takes over as she walks up some stairs - Larson describing that there were flies on the window sill and the sun caught flakes from local smokestacks. Dude, just stick to the facts and leave the purple prose to novelists. Okay, rant over.

 

[echoshifting]

Sorry you didn't like Devil in the White City, sparky. One of my favorites from my 2011 reading list.

And, in fairness:

In the following pages I tell the story of these men and this event, but I must insert here a notice: However strange or macabre some of the following incidents may seem, this is not a work of fiction. Anything between quotation marks comes from a letter, memoir, or other written document.

I think it's always pretty clear when he's speculating. Furthermore, if you check the notes at the back of the book, he typically does a pretty good job explaining the conclusions he came to independently. I'll grant that there are probably exceptions, but whenever an eyebrow went up I checked the notes and left satisfied with his explanation.

 

[jayb]

With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa

 

[Railer]

Currently reading Scott Lynch - The Lies of Locke Lamora for the Sword & Laser bookclub. Really enjoying it, got about 100 pages left (out of 500).

As soon as this one is done I'll start on Douglas Adams - Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency. Never read this one before, but Hitchikers Guide is one of my top 5 books ever, so hopefully I'll enjoy it.

 

[kruis]

 

[Mumei]

As I said, I started Augustus. ~100 pages in:

It's the first epistolary novel I've read in years (and I didn't even finish The Sorrows of Young Werther before losing my library copy... want to get the W.H. Auden translation and try that again <_<), and I love the way the story is developed through the letters and memoirs. Augustus is a fascinating historical figure and he definitely doesn't disappoint here.

 

[bengraven]

I'm reading them back to back, only a couple of chapters into Lost World.

Spoiler

The explanation of how Malcolm is still alive is really, really weak.

That never bothered me at all.

The LW book came out as a complete surprise to me, a huge JP fan, so when I saw it on the shelves and read the description I was like "Malcolm? Is this a prequel?". Read like one line and was fine with the explanation.

Grant asked how Malcolm was and, I believe it was Muldoon, hangs his head. That's really it. No one even says straight up his fate. So when he returns in Lost World I didn't mind.

 

[Roche]

I just finished reading this:

Started out quite slow but I really got into it towards the end.

And now I'm moving on to this:

With very little idea of what to expect from it, but I'm liking Brandon Sanderson's stuff.

 

[bengraven]

Holy shit, I just realized the new Temeraire comes out in like 3 days.

 

[pitcairn55]

Finished this yesterday, having been recommended it by the wife:

Verdict: Too much teenage angst, not enough zombie death terror. Well written though.

Just started this:

As ever with freaky physics stuff, I'm wishing my maths skills were better. The treatment of the double slit experiment is proving surprisingly easy to grasp so far, however. Mind you, that probably just means I haven't grasped it at all...

 

[Maklershed]

I really shouldn't watch this Prophets of Science Fiction show on Science. During every episode I end up buying a bunch of books and inflating my already ridiculous backlog.

 

[Ceebs]

Holy shit, I just realized the new Temeraire comes out in like 3 days.

I should catch up on those. I read the first 4 in a bit of a marathon and burned myself out on them. They are pretty fun books.

Also The Mirage is not what I was expecting at all.

I did chuckle way too much at this:

The hit TV series 24/7 Jihad, each season of which chronicles a single day in the life of anti-terrorist Jafar Bashir.

 

[Smithy C]

Just finished reading this.

Just starting to read this.

 

[bengraven]

I should catch up on those. I read the first 4 in a bit of a marathon and burned myself out on them. They are pretty fun books.

Series spoilers:

Spoiler

There comes a point when you kind of just want to get back home and return to the status quo, but her little twist from the fourth book keeps them wandering the globe. Which is fair: this a pretty well realized world and she wants us to see other parts of it without military duty getting in the way. But after a while I just want them to be pardoned and return to England.

I'm kind of hoping she can find a good resolution that isn't a copout in this book.

 

[Monroeski]

Finished:

This book was so good. If for nothing else I think I want to keep it around for people that say (very VERY minor spoilers)

Spoiler

they don't like sci-fi because it's such a great example of a book that takes you places you don't expect. I spoilered this because for many people the sci-fi angle won't even be obvious until as far as 1/2 or so of the way through the book. I think when most people think sci-fi they think Star Wars or The Matrix but there is a lot of range in the genre.

Going to rent the movie soon.

Continuing (and finishing unless I pick up A Pale View of the Hills) my Ishiguro binge I'm 87 pages into:

Very odd thus far; enjoyable, but noticeably different. For instance:

Spoiler

The main character looks at Stephan and can apparently just mind read the entire thing he's thinking about, but then Stephan KNOWS the main character could read the story, then Stephan goes into the old lady's house and despite being in the car and behind several walls the main character can still see everything going on in the house.

While The Remains of the Day and Never Let Me Go were very different in many ways I could also see a lot of similarities that gave away that they were by the same author. The Unconsoled is different; I wouldn't know it was by the same guy if I didn't know beforehand.

 

[The Culture Vulture]

Finished Game of Thrones - Absolutely cannot wait to see what HBO has done with the series. Will most likely pick up the second book eventually.

Currently finishing up Life of Pi, a fantastic first 1/3 but is getting a little monotonous.

and using Rick Reilly as a change of pace. Say what you want about the Kindle store but I never would have bought that book if I had seen how annoying the cover was.

Spoiler

Plus it was only .99 cents

 

[nakedsushi]

Finished:


Letters from Burma by Aung San Suu Kyi

I was really ignorant about the situation in Burma but after reading this, I understand it a little more -- if not the politics around it, then at least how it effects every day people in the country.

 

[Karakand]

Anything as good as The Long Ships in there?

I didn't read that, sorry.

Probably going to pick up Victor Serge's Conquered City but I should skim the excerpt on marxists.org first and make sure the prose isn't ~*/icky\*~. A bad book on sale is still a bad book.

If you're an ambitious reader go with with All About H. Hatterr.

I don't read enough. When I do I read the worst shit. I just read the first Hunger Games book, which was the first book I've read since Harry Potter ended. It was dumb, and it made me feel stupid for reading it. The writing itself was wretched. It felt unedited in parts and was full of sentence fragments which I find deplorable for a book aimed at developing minds. Is writing "young adult" fiction just an excuse for not being held to any standards?

I guess I can see why little girls like it cause just like Twilight it takes an emotionless, uninteresting girl and puts her in a power fantasy where boys like her for some reason. I ended up kind of enjoying it against my better judgment in parts, mostly on an ironic level. I'll probably finish the series but I really need to try and branch out into something a little more intellectually stimulating.

Brazil is going to get you.

As for YA standards, they're just functional items. Is there a structured plot? Is there a character arc (no matter how primitive)? Etc. Welcome to the sentence fragment trenches, I'm afraid their mainstreaming in literature as a method of artificial cadence means this is a Forever War.

 

[Bazza]

Holy shit, I just realized the new Temeraire comes out in like 3 days.

I brought the 1st 3 books off the kindle store when they were on offer. Not looked at them yet, are they any good?

 

[Qwomo]

Slowly crawling through Royal Flash

It's pretty amazing, obviously! Wish I had more time to read it.

 

[lacinius]

I'm getting into this as soon as I finish,

Am reading this right now, and enjoying it quite well... decided on this particular book from this thread!

 

[Keen]

Finished Small Favor and am now reading Turn Coat

 

[Ratrat]

Still trying to read Judas Unchained and The Lost Fleet: Dauntless. Judas Unchained is just painfully long and boring. Its kind of strange that with such a large cast of characters the author couldn't create a single interesting one.

 

[TheContact]

Read this post-apocalyptic short story. Here's an interesting bit about it:

Wiki quote:

Benét wrote the story in response to the April 25, 1937 bombing of Guernica, in which Fascist military forces destroyed the majority of the Basque town of Guernica during the Spanish Civil War.[5] This story took place before the public knowledge of nuclear weapons, but Benét's description of "The Great Burning" is similar to later descriptions of the effects of the atomic bombings at Nagasaki and Hiroshima. His "deadly mist", and "fire falling from the mist" seem eerily prescient of the descriptions of the aftermath of nuclear blasts. The story was written in 1937, two years before the Manhattan Project started, and six years before there was widespread public knowledge of the project.

By the Waters of Babylon

 

[Bill Murray]

Still trying to read Judas Unchained and The Lost Fleet: Dauntless. Judas Unchained is just painfully long and boring. Its kind of strange that with such a large cast of characters the author couldn't create a single interesting one.

I forget his name now, but I liked the (possible slight spoiler)

Spoiler

Alien main character. Loved his POV.

 

[sgossard]

and

Both really good so far.

 

[ultron87]

Finished up Revelation Space. I generally enjoyed it, but it wasn't anything super spectacular.

Can anyone recommend me a good military sci fi book with a lot of space combat? I really just want big fleets of giant capital ships slugging it out. Obviously the entire book doesn't have to be that. I'd prefer something closer to the hard science fiction end of things.

 

[malingenie]

After a long hiatus I decided to take the plunge and read the last book of the Dark Tower... I lost interest in Song of Suzanna last year. I am glad I am doing it because it is giving me some closure

Spoiler

albeit a bittersweet one

 

[sparky2112]

Finished up Revelation Space. I generally enjoyed it, but it wasn't anything super spectacular.

Yeah, I thought the 'big ideas' in RS were quite good, but the story felt way too 'small' to do them justice. To be fair, it's Reynolds's first, and I really need to give him another shot. I can only assume he gets better as he goes on.

 

[kruis]

Finished the Agatha Christie book yesterday. Good but not great. It was supposedly written right after Christie's still mysterious disappearance and she herself thought it was one of her weakest books. I should read a few of her better known books in the future so I know how good she really was.

Now reading:

The book was originally published in Russia about 15 years ago. A Russian book that's translated and published by a US publisher must be something special to set it apart from the dozens of English language fantasy novels that are released every year. That was enough to pique my interest.

 

[Bill Murray]

Finished up Revelation Space. I generally enjoyed it, but it wasn't anything super spectacular.

Can anyone recommend me a good military sci fi book with a lot of space combat? I really just want big fleets of giant capital ships slugging it out. Obviously the entire book doesn't have to be that. I'd prefer something closer to the hard science fiction end of things.

Dude, The Lost Fleet is exactly that.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

Spring Break next week, so I'll try to finally finish this.

Only seven?

 

[Seanspeed]

Yeah, I thought the 'big ideas' in RS were quite good, but the story felt way too 'small' to do them justice. To be fair, it's Reynolds's first, and I really need to give him another shot. I can only assume he gets better as he goes on.

I've read the 2nd book in the series and it definitely expands upon all the ideas that he brought up in Revelation Space, which was nice, but I still prefer the 1st book because the ideas felt very fresh(and very terrifying at the same time!). The 2nd one is more story-orientated, but its nothing overly spectacular. Worth reading, though, definitely. I'll get to the 3rd one eventually.

I finished A Wise Man's Fear. It doesn't feel like the plot has really moved on at all since the 1st book, but its still a great series of adventures and I love how personal the writing is still. Any clue on how long til the next one? And how many books are planned for the series? I hate waiting.....

So now I've got a couple choices:

- Reread Game of Thrones series. I actually read the first couple chapters of GoT, but I've got season 1 on Blu-Ray coming so I dont know whether I need the double-dose or not.

- Start the Master and Commander series. Read some of the first chapter but I started to nod off(not because it was boring, but because I was tired as hell). Language seemed a bit daunting from what little I read.

- Buy Absolution Gap, which is the final book in the Revelation Space series.

- Dunk and Egg series. Are these any good?

Aaargh, I hate choices sometimes.

 

[Salvor.Hardin]

So I have these two lying on my shelf, unread. No idea which one I should start with.

 

[sparky2112]

- Start the Master and Commander series. Read some of the first chapter but I started to nod off(not because it was boring, but because I was tired as hell). Language seemed a bit daunting from what little I read.

I tell everyone that tries O'Brian that M&C is a tough read. I really wish the series started with the second book, Post Captain, which I think is a more developed story.

O'Brian is brutal in his lack of hand-holding of the reader. Don't understand naval terminology? Tough. That's certainly one of the reasons there's several companion books to the series.

 

[ultron87]

Dude, The Lost Fleet is exactly that.

Yep, that pretty much sounds like exactly what I'm looking for. I'll check it out!

 

[Erasus]

Reading for school, dones like a week ago or so, loved it actually. Even if you dont study sociology/poli sci, you should read this.

Reading this, forund out its the 3rd in a series but never read the others.

Question for GAF, Im 200 pages in, do I stop and buy the first 2, read those, then finish, or can I finish this one, and then buy the others? Love how he builds up this cyberpunk world.
It seems fine to read as a standalone, though it took some time finding out what the marians where, Harlans World, "angel fire" etc.

Turns out he wrote Crysis 2 too.

 

[Protome]

I just finished reading Stardust today and I believe I owe a thank you to the two people in the last thread who told me to listen to my girlfriend and read it. It was great, I really enjoyed it.

Not sure what I'm going to read next. Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson is the only thing left on my kindle unread, so probably that.

 

[aidan]

Question for GAF, Im 200 pages in, do I stop and buy the first 2, read those, then finish, or can I finish this one, and then buy the others? Love how he builds up this cyberpunk world.
It seems fine to read as a standalone, though it took some time finding out what the marians where, Harlans World, "angel fire" etc.

Turns out he wrote Crysis 2 too.

Well, the first one, Altered Carbon, is one of the finest SF novels written since the turn of the century. So, yeah.

 

[Divius]

Finished LOTR: The Return of the King yesterday. Got my hands on my moms e-reader, currently reading:

Up next; George Orwell's 1984 & Animal Farm.

I've decided to read more books this year, but I'm a noob when it comes to picking stuff. So I hope I did well.

 

[Fjordson]

Reading this, forund out its the 3rd in a series but never read the others.

Question for GAF, Im 200 pages in, do I stop and buy the first 2, read those, then finish, or can I finish this one, and then buy the others? Love how he builds up this cyberpunk world.
It seems fine to read as a standalone, though it took some time finding out what the marians where, Harlans World, "angel fire" etc.

Turns out he wrote Crysis 2 too.

I would. The first book, Altered Carbon, is far better than the two sequels. Amazing book.

 

[Salazar]

The tone is a little bit cloyingly reverent, but it is fascinating, and there are some people and players of genuinely terrific stature who talked to Turner quite openly.