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[Bazza]

Finished The Color of Magic. I really liked the fun and adventure-ness of it. It really didn't seem like a novel but more like 4 short adventures that ran one right after the other. The world seems fun and I really like the sense of humor. I swear there better somehow be more of the sad craftsman. With such a little part I instantly loved the character.

I think the first three Discworld books are Pratchett experimenting with ideas working out what he wanted Discworld to be, all the books from then onward are Terry building a world to an actual final ideal which I feel was complete with 'A Hat Full of Sky'.

The books after that almost feel like the beginning of part two of Discworlds history with 1st 32 books being part one.

I set myself an ambitious good reads target this year and had already decided to reread Iain M Banks' scifi stuff but with Pratchett's death I feel a need to reread Discworld again as well.

 

[Maklershed]

I may getting your post wrong, but Saramago is Portuguese(Europe), he is not latin american.

But you are correct he's a great writer

Oh really? My apologies, I was mistaken.

 

[Incandenza]

Wow, these Tehol & Bugg sections of Midnight Tides are laugh-out-loud hilarious. This is easily my favorite book in the series so far.

 

[arglebargle]

Not done with it yet, but in the final stretch but I have to come here and praise it.

The Adventures of Kavalier and Clay is amazing.


Probably one if the best books I've ever read.

One thing tho, I feel like The Goldfinch by Donna Tart is a not-as-good copy of the story.
So if you hated The Goldfinch you will love this. If you liked the goldfinch you will love this.

Soooo goood.

I've been thinking about reading something by Chabon. Is this the best place to start?

 

[hythloday]

Finished:

Assassin's Quest by Robin Hobb

Overall, I was happy with how it ended and I love Hobb's writing. Mainly I felt

Spoiler

relief that nothing happened to Nighteyes because after Nosy and Smithy I wouldn't have been able to take it. The whole time I was reading I was half-wincing going 'ok, this is where the wolf gets killed.' I also thought Fitz really was pretty dumb at points, because Molly's pregnancy was obvious from the beginning

. I think it will be a while before I jump into the other trilogies, but I do plan to at some point.

Just started:


Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke

 

[Tugatrix]

Oh really? My apologies, I was mistaken.

no worries it's an honest mistake

 

[hamauzu kaito]

This month has been a busy one when it comes to book buying but not so much on the reading side. This month I bought Man in the High Castle, ICO-霧の城-, 特別法第001条DUST, and an 'picture book for adults' called 惑星・太陽の大発見：４６億年目の真実. I have only finished ICO's first book. Miyabe Miyuki's adaptation is very fun to read. Brings an entirely new layer to the contents of the game.

I've recently been craving reading about space so I'm thinking of picking up 宇宙の渚.

 

[Akahige]

I read Anansi Boys, cute book but American Gods is so much better.

 

[kvothe]

Throne of the Crescent Moon

It's alright. Compared to most fantasy, it's unique in its fantastical Indian/Arabian setting and older characters.

 

[fakefaker]

Finished up Child 44 by Tom Rob Smith and loved it to death. I won't continue on with the trilogy, but this book was one hella ride. Now onto Karen Memory by Elizabeth Bear.

 

[aidan]

Throne of the Crescent Moon

It's alright. Compared to most fantasy, it's unique in its fantastical Indian/Arabian setting and older characters.

*thumbs up*

 

[Jintor]

Teh

These are good, I assume? Ever since that fan-made Tie Fighter short was released I've been looking for some good dogfighting-based Star Wars stuff.

They're a little clumsy, nowhere near the condensed tight feel of the Zahn books, but Stackpole does a pretty great job.

 

[Piecake]

Just finished this. An excellent and depressing book. I can't even imagine growing up in an environment like that. It would be like growing up in a war zone where just a few blocks away people are living in luxury and peace. The juvenile court system was especially depressing since I had no idea it was that bad. Hopefully it still isnt that bad, because yikes...

 

[VanWinkle]

I've been in such a slump the past couple of weeks. I find it hard to muster up the mood to read for some reason. When I do make myself read, it's like three pages before I put it up.

 

[O.DOGG]

Finished King Rat yesterday, and it was incredibly captivating. I managed to finish it in about 5 days while at the same time putting in 26 hours into Pillars of Eternity, having guests and doing various stuff at home - and I'm a slow reader! Great, great book, I can't recommend it enough.

Moving on to On Writing by Stephen King which grabbed my attention while browsing this thread this morning.

 

[BronzeWolf]

Just finished




What a thrilling read, even if no real swashbuckling action happens.

I am in the mood for something lighter. Should I read



or

 

[whatevermort]

I am in the mood for something lighter. Should I read

Read Karen Memory, absolutely. Going against popular Gaf opinion, I thought The Martian was atrocious. So not that.

 

[Althane]

Read Karen Memory, absolutely. Going against popular Gaf opinion, I thought The Martian was atrocious. So not that.

What'd you hate about it? I thought that The Martian was a fantastic SF/F jaunt.

 

[Burger]

What'd you hate about it? I thought that The Martian was a fantastic SF/F jaunt.

Main character was a man child built from memes. Showed very little emotion. Cloying dialogue from the Earth/NASA scenes. Explored very little/nothing in the way of the human psyche and the immense isolation he would have felt. Could have contained an ending where the main character was a humourless android at the end and it wouldn't have come as a surprise. Etc.

 

[whatevermort]

Main character was a man child built from memes. Showed very little emotion. Cloying dialogue from the Earth/NASA scenes. Explored very little/nothing in the way of the human psyche and the immense isolation he would have felt. Could have contained an ending where the main character was a humourless android at the end and it wouldn't have come as a surprise. Etc.

All of this. The writing was mediocre at best - some of it was so barely remedial that it made me gasp. The main character is dismal - shitty jokes, swearing in place of actual character, facts and science in place of story. There's a really weird, distasteful bit of homophobia (the thing about gay probes) and one character basically infers that a female character isn't an astronaut because they're too pretty. The timescale is totally wrong - he'd be absolutely nuts. (Look at King's short story Survivor Type for a far far better version of this Robinson Crusoe-esque story). And structurally, it's a total mess. Lost all dramatic tension for me, because it's some bits from a textbook with a thin, token narrative plopped on top.

But then: books, eh? I disliked it, and millions of people loved it. That's the way it goes.

 

[Althane]

All of this. The writing was mediocre at best - some of it was so barely remedial that it made me gasp. The main character is dismal - shitty jokes, swearing in place of actual character, facts and science in place of story. There's a really weird, distasteful bit of homophobia (the thing about gay probes) and one character basically infers that a female character isn't an astronaut because they're too pretty. The timescale is totally wrong - he'd be absolutely nuts. (Look at King's short story Survivor Type for a far far better version of this Robinson Crusoe-esque story). And structurally, it's a total mess. Lost all dramatic tension for me, because it's some bits from a textbook with a thin, token narrative plopped on top.

But then: books, eh? I disliked it, and millions of people loved it. That's the way it goes.

Not saying you don't have valid complaints, but I enjoyed the facts and science in place of story. I enjoyed the jokes, and I don't remember the homophobia comment that you've commented on.

The timescale is fair, I'll read Survivor Type to check it out, but I don't see how he would've necessarily been a humorless android at the end of his vacation.

Long story short, to each their own.

 

[whatevermort]

Not saying you don't have valid complaints, but I enjoyed the facts and science in place of story. I enjoyed the jokes, and I don't remember the homophobia comment that you've commented on.

The timescale is fair, I'll read Survivor Type to check it out, but I don't see how he would've necessarily been a humorless android at the end of his vacation.

Long story short, to each their own.

See, this is totally and utterly fair. I love this. I've written a novel where the science is (intentionally, through the veil of the narrator) wonky, and some people really hated that. I put the focus on character and story, and not facts. (In many ways, it's kind of like the anti-Martian - which might explain, given that I wrote it, why I'm not such a fan of this book.)

This discussion is why I like this books thread. Nothing is wrong - it's just opinion. Some people have shouted at me on twitter etc for not liking/liking books that they love/hate, with this whole "You're wrong!" thing that just makes no sense where personal opinion comes into play...

 

[sparky2112]

I dunno - you're either going to approach being stranded on Mars with a crushing sense of dread, lay down, and die, or you're going to say 'You know what, Mars, fuck you.', the latter being what the main character did. I don't know that it needed to be turned into a psychological study.

 

[RepairmanJack]

I dunno - you're either going to approach being stranded on Mars with a crushing sense of dread, lay down, and die, or you're going to say 'You know what, Mars, fuck you.', the latter being what the main character did. I don't know that it needed to be turned into a psychological study.

Yeah, I mostly saw it as just a fun read. The science and humor of it made it feel light hearted but still a page turner until the very end. The complaints are sound, but I went in not exactly looking for some huge undertaking in the situation.

 

[Osorio]

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

I dunno - you're either going to approach being stranded on Mars with a crushing sense of dread, lay down, and die, or you're going to say 'You know what, Mars, fuck you.', the latter being what the main character did. I don't know that it needed to be turned into a psychological study.

But you have to understand why the curtains are yellow.

Still working on this:

It's a large book. I love the images (literal and mental) but it's been hard to find time to read it. Not sure what the hangup is as I'm finding myself reading whole other books while only getting through a chapter or two of this.

 

[BronzeWolf]

So I went ahead and bought

Words of Radiance
Karen Memory
The Martian

...

I couldn't decide on the theme that I want to read so I bought them all

 

[SniperHunter]

really enjoying reading on my new kindle paperwhite! reading a bit too much at the moment but concentrating on these two books atm

both are very interesting so far

 

[Razmos]

Started reading Doctor Sleep by Stephen King today. It really does feel like a sequel to The Shining, King really made it feel as close to the original as possible in style.

Loving the plot already too, some kind of travelling circus of psychic people who live forever. I heard they are some kind of vampires that feed on psychic energy but I can't remember where I heard that from, an old synopsis maybe? Such a cool idea regardless.

 

[hythloday]

really enjoying reading on my new kindle paperwhite! reading a bit too much at the moment but concentrating on these two books atm

I know the feeling!

 

[studyguy]

Reading "Lock In" on a friend's suggestion and finding it dull.
I get the premise, it's interesting but everyone seems so fucking self absorbed it's annoying me.

 

[aidan]

I get the premise, it's interesting but everyone seems so fucking self absorbed it's annoying me.

Hehe. Have you ever read Scalzi before?

Seriously. Go read his blog. It'll all make sense.

 

[LProtag]

Loved The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao.

On to this now:

Interesting, so far, but I'm only on page 50 or so.

 

[studyguy]

Okay, so it isn't just me.
I mean the premise is interesting, a global epidemic where people either die or become wholly paralyzed. The aftermath and the way the now disabled deal with the world by interfacing through what are basically robots, etc.

I'm just like son of a bitch everyone in this book has a massive stick up their rear. Reading through the main character's family dinner is like uuuggghghhhh

Also like to note that I listened to the audiobook of The Martian and it is fan fucking tastic.

Interesting, so far, but I'm only on page 50 or so.

I remember reading this in high school and really enjoying it. It actually got my friend to snap out of some dire stuff he was going through as a senior in high school, fly to europe and backpack for a while. Fun stuff.

 

[User 479360]

I'm still very early on in both Ready, Player One and 20th Century Ghosts. I've read the first 30-40 pages of RP1 and the first story and a bit of the latter.

I like both, but just haven't felt like reading as of late.

 

[Ally of Justice]

Just picked up El Laberinto de la Soledad from Octavio Paz today, after reading both The Tin Drum and Cat and Mouse from Günter Grass.

Pretty good so far, also both The Tin Drum and Cat and Mouse are worth reading, although Cat and Mouse had a weird, second person narrative that makes it a bit harder to read and less entertaining and interesting than The Tin Drum.

I'm at 9 books this year so far, and I'm lagging behind!

 

[studyguy]

I was actually gifted Crucible of Souls and I have the third book in the Lightbringer series on audible ready if Lock In doesn't pan out. I'm super iffy on it still but I'll keep going for now. I really need to branch out beyond just sci-fi/fantasy. That's all I read last year...

 

[Nuke Soda]

Just finished Guards! Guards! by Terry Pratchett and it was pretty good, though it was the weakest of the 5 Discworld books I've read so far. Basically the plot is a secret society finds a way to summon and control a huge dragon and Sam Vimes, captain of The Watch has to stop it. It is kind of interesting reading this series of order, coming across characters you like, but as they were introduced into the insanity of AnhkMorpork. Even with it being my least favorite (so far) book in the series it has one of the funniest running jokes. Colon, Nobbs, and Carrot (members of The Watch) become obsessive over million to one odds and are convinced that you stand a good chance of winning with those insurmountable odds.

 

[Rug Monkey]

Humblebundle are doing Post-Apocalytic books this week

 

[Gambit 1138]

 

[sparky2112]

Seriously. Go read his blog. It'll all make sense.

Problems with Mr. Scalzi, do we? (I don't care for him or his ego either)

 

[Tawney Bomb]

I'm almost finished with the first book in the Mistborn trilogy and loving it. Just wondering if the other two books are worth the read?

 

[Althane]

I'm almost finished with the first book in the Mistborn trilogy and loving it. Just wondering if the other two books are worth the read?

Yes.

All the Sanderson books are worth reading. I just finished Perfect State, his latest novella/short story, and I thought it was a pretty awesome romp.

So. Yup. Sanderson is good.

Edit: Scalzi is fun, but he's got a pretty big ego. Then again, he's a pretty successful writer, so I don't really see a reason for him to be all that humble.

(That being said, I don't agree with a lot of his politics and philosophies, but he seems like the guy I'd go have a beer with)

 

[Tawney Bomb]

Yes.

All the Sanderson books are worth reading. I just finished Perfect State, his latest novella/short story, and I thought it was a pretty awesome romp.

So. Yup. Sanderson is good.

Edit: Scalzi is fun, but he's got a pretty big ego. Then again, he's a pretty successful writer, so I don't really see a reason for him to be all that humble.

(That being said, I don't agree with a lot of his politics and philosophies, but he seems like the guy I'd go have a beer with)

Thanks, good to know. I was middle of the road on Elantris, but Mistborn seems leagues better.

 

[teeny]

My reading seems to come in fits and bursts which I am attempting to remedy - this thread is great for that

Currently very early on in Vixen by Rosie Garland, historical fiction about a priest, his housekeeper and a mute during the Black Death. The prose is very flowery given the historical context. I like it so far.

 

[aidan]

Problems with Mr. Scalzi, do we? (I don't care for him or his ego either)

I like Scalzi, his

Spoiler

screenplays disguised as

novels, and generally groove on his politics, but every single character he writes is a thinly veiled manifestation of his ego.

 

[Rug Monkey]

I like Scalzi, his

Spoiler

screenplays disguised as

novels, and generally groove on his politics, but every single character he writes is a thinly veiled manifestation of his ego.

he was creative consultant on Stargate: Universe .. which explains Nicholas Rush and Eli Wallace and the execrable plot

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Man, when it rains it pours:

HOLD PICK UP NOTICE -- Material you requested is available. Please pick up the
item(s) listed below.

1 House of cards. The complete second season [videorecording] / created
for television by Beau Willimon ; MRC II Production Company L.P. ;
Triggerstreet Productions, Wade \ Thomas Productions ; MRC.
Willimon, Beau.
call numberVD 791.457 HOUSE O copy:1
Pickup by:4/10/2015
hold pickup library:Vancouver Community Library



2 The poetry of Pablo Neruda / edited and with an introduction by Ilan
Stavans ; translated by Miguel Algarin ... [et al.].
Neruda, Pablo, 1904-1973.
call number:861.62 NERUDA copy:3
Pickup by:4/10/2015
hold pickup library:Vancouver Community Library



3 Slice of cherry / Dia Reeves.
Reeves, Dia.
call number:YA REEVES copy:1
Pickup by:4/10/2015
hold pickup library:Vancouver Community Library



4 Cold cereal / Adam Rex.
Rex, Adam.
call number:J REX copy:15
Pickup by:4/10/2015
hold pickup library:Vancouver Community Library



5 Johannes Cabal, the necromancer / Jonathan L. Howard.
Howard, Jonathan L.
call number:HOWARD copy:1
Pickup by:4/10/2015
hold pickup library:Vancouver Community Library



6 Holmes on the range / Steve Hockensmith.
Hockensmith, Steve.
call number:HOCKENS copy:1
Pickup by:4/10/2015
hold pickup library:Vancouver Community Library

Can't wait to get started.

 

[User 479360]

Shit. Someone placed a hold at the library on Ready, Player One. Couldn't renew it today. I'd better get reading it, if I'm to have it done before the 14th.

A friend got it in his Loot Crate, and I doubt he'll ever read it. However, he wants to keep his crates in perfect condition in case they'll ever become collectible, so I'd be hesitant to ask to borrow it.

 

[RepairmanJack]

God dammit people, it is no longer March.