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[Maklershed]

Forgot to mention I read through this in one sitting the other day. Good stuff:


Batman: The Dark Knight Returns by Frank Miller

I can't put this down.

*fist bump*

 

[xxRONN1Nxx]

Just finished the last book in the Wheel of Time. I'm not sure why I waited so long to finish that series after being into it for so many years waiting on it to be completed.

Think I'm going to give the Mistborne trilogy a shot heard good things about it.

 

[Maklershed]

Leviathan Wakes (Expanse #1) is on sale today for Kindle - $1.99. Great book, highly recommend.


Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Glad to see people reading "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". Truly a spectacular novel, one of the best yet most underrated and unfairly ghettoized (as a "girl's book" in this case) in American literature.

 

[Issun23]

Finished The Hunger Games. I was obviously not expecting any literary masterwork since it's written from a sixteen-year-old's point of view. But I liked Katniss's response to the sheer violence demonstrated in the games and the impact of the capitol's ire upon her after their return to regular life. Enjoyed thoroughly.

Also started A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan. I have only finished the first chapter but I am already loving the idea of dragons juxtaposed with chronicles of Victorian era expeditions.

 

[ShaneB]

If you like survival stories (fictional) read the road. It's an amazing book.

My second Cormac Mccarthy and I think I should read more.

The Road has been on my radar to read, but aside from the writing style, I doubt I could handle the Father/Son dynamic, would break me emotionally. For something else by Mccarthy, I'm also wondering if I'll read something like 'All The Pretty Horses' sometime.

 

[Kittygirl]

Does this count?

I'm re-reading "Devil In The White City". I first read it when it came out, loved it, and am now shocked at how much I missed, or forgot, reading it the first time around.

It scares me.

To be open, I now live less than 100 miles from Chicago, and own a glass teacup that was my Great Grandpa Great's from the fair. I'm probably a bit biased. But he was newly-wed, and pictures from that time show her as being quite pretty.

 

[hythloday]

I took a break from Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell, because it's a bit of a slow starter. I will go back to it, though, because it's gotten some praise here and the fact that it's apparently popular enough to make a BBC Miniseries out of has me intrigued. I'd rather read the book before I watch a show about it.

Just finished

The Queen of Last Hopes: The Story of Margaret of Anjou by Susan Higginbotham

It was alright.

I'm fighting an urge to re-read the five books in A Song of Ice and Fire, because I decided this year I'd try to read more books from authors I've never tried before, as opposed to long series and/or re-reads. (And I don't want to invest the time in a complete ASOIAF re-read until we get a release date for book six, a phrase which the act of typing makes me weep nerdly tears).

 

[Necrovex]

I'm fighting an urge to re-read the five books in A Song of Ice and Fire, because I decided this year I'd try to read more books from authors I've never tried before, as opposed to long series and/or re-reads. (And I don't want to invest the time in a complete ASOIAF re-read until we get a release date for book six, a phrase which the act of typing makes me weep nerdly tears).

I know your pain. I'm aiming to broaden my horizon as well. As of late, I have really wanted to reread Berserk, however I told myself I would wait until significant progress has been made in the series. I told myself that five years ago and no true progress have been made. :-(

 

[KidDork]

Still plugging away on Eisenhorn and The Shadow Rising. Picked this up today, though, so that's next on my list. I loved Tregillis' Bitter Seeds--it was the best superhero story I'd read outside of Watchmen.

 

[Mumei]

Also started A Natural History of Dragons, by Marie Brennan. I have only finished the first chapter but I am already loving the idea of dragons juxtaposed with chronicles of Victorian era expeditions.

I hope you enjoy it. I thought the first book took awhile to warm up, but the subsequent books build very nicely upon the foundation that the first one sets up. If you think the first one is pretty good, you'll probably really enjoy the sequels.

 

[Cade]

Leviathan Wakes (Expanse #1) is on sale today for Kindle - $1.99. Great book, highly recommend.


Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

Yessss. I think I'll pick this up since I read it from the library and might want to reread at least 1 and 2 before 5 comes out.

 

[VanWinkle]

Leviathan Wakes (Expanse #1) is on sale today for Kindle - $1.99. Great book, highly recommend.


Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey

Thanks.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Reading two books in exchange for one? That's a chump's deal. You're a chump is what you are!

Anyway, here's a poem by Hart Crane.

My Grandmother’s Love Letters
BY HART CRANE
There are no stars tonight
But those of memory.
Yet how much room for memory there is
In the loose girdle of soft rain.

There is even room enough
For the letters of my mother’s mother,
Elizabeth,
That have been pressed so long
Into a corner of the roof
That they are brown and soft,
And liable to melt as snow.

Over the greatness of such space
Steps must be gentle.
It is all hung by an invisible white hair.
It trembles as birch limbs webbing the air.

And I ask myself:

“Are your fingers long enough to play
Old keys that are but echoes:
Is the silence strong enough
To carry back the music to its source
And back to you again
As though to her?”

Yet I would lead my grandmother by the hand
Through much of what she would not understand;
And so I stumble. And the rain continues on the roof
With such a sound of gently pitying laughter.

 

[Dandy Crocodile]

This book has been so popular with kids that come into work and I've even overheard them asking bookstore employees if they have it in. FInally decided to pick it up and see what they were fussing about.

While obviously targeted for 10-14-year-old kids, Wonder is a fantastic story about a young boy with severe facial deformities who begins to attend public school. It's well-written and I can definitely see why it's become so popular among kids.
Some very good lessons and great characters with complex motivations that are only revealed over time, and in some cases over the course of some additional "chapters" of the book that are still being released for characters who didn't get a chance to shine in the book itself.

 

[You Know Nothing]

Well, I finished City of Stairs which was a very refreshing fantasy novel. And I'm really looking forward to City of Blades.

I've also read the first two books in the Mistborn trilogy in the meantime. They suffer from some of the YA tropes of recent years, female protagonist (although she isn't awful), unnecessary love interest (and triangle), finding out she's the chosen one, etc. But they're still quite enjoyable and Sanderson handles them well overall.

I'll be starting Hero of Ages (the third book in the series) soon.

 

[Cade]

I liked Lies of Locke Lamora a lot. I'll move on to Red Seas under Red Skies, but not for a while. Just reading splinter cell novels now. The editing in them is bad.

 

[fakefaker]

Really loved Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan which I just finished tonight. Maybe not as deep as some fantasy series, but man is it fun! Now onto some serious western action with The Winter Family by Clifford Jackman.

 

[The Culture Vulture]

Glad to see people reading "A Tree Grows in Brooklyn". Truly a spectacular novel, one of the best yet most underrated and unfairly ghettoized (as a "girl's book" in this case) in American literature.

Have it on my Kindle. Will most likely knock it out sometime this year.

 

[Donos]

I'm through 60% of redemption ark (book 3) and holy shit this is building up to an really *epic* story, tieing up all the former stories into it. And still some books to go. That's what i wanted. These threads really gave me a lot if books to enjoy so far. (except book 2 and 3 of Southern Reach Trilogy

My *to read list* still has over 10 items from this thread on it.

 

[bengraven]

Really loved Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan which I just finished tonight. Maybe not as deep as some fantasy series, but man is it fun! Now onto some serious western action with The Winter Family by Clifford Jackman.

"serious western action"?

Tell me more...

 

[Nymerio]

Just finished Warship by Joshua Dalzelle. Went into it not expecting much and ended up enjoying it immensely. Pretty straight forward plot but I really enjoyed the action on the bridge. Reminded me a lot of Battlestar Galactica; loved it.

 

[ShaneB]

Yeah, that cover for The Winter Family looks badass.

 

[Rug Monkey]

Just finished Warship by Joshua Dalzelle. Went into it not expecting much and ended up enjoying it immensely. Pretty straight forward plot but I really enjoyed the action on the bridge. Reminded me a lot of Battlestar Galactica; loved it.

I recently read Joshua Dalzelle's Omega Force books, similar expectations, similar results. He writes excellent military space opera. Plots/Action/Character all functional. Recommend if you like that sort of thing

 

[fakefaker]

"serious western action"?

Tell me more...

A description taken straight outta the bowels of hell...whoops I mean goodreads:

Spanning the better part of three decades, The Winter Family traverses America's harsh, untamed terrain, both serving and opposing the fierce advance of civilization. Among its twisted specimens, the Winter Family includes the psychopathic killer Quentin Ross, the mean and moronic Empire brothers, the impassive ex-slave Fred Johnson, and the dangerous child prodigy Lukas Shakespeare But at the malevolent center of this ultraviolent storm is their cold, hardened leader, Augustus Winter—a man with an almost pathological resistance to the rules of society and a preternatural gift for butchery.
From their service as political thugs in a brutal Chicago election to their work as bounty hunters in the deserts of Arizona, there's a hypnotic logic to Winter's grim borderland morality that plays out, time and again, in ruthless carnage.
With its haunting, hard-edged style, The Winter Family is a feverishly paced meditation on human nature and the dark contradictions of progress.

 

[Nymerio]

I recently read Joshua Dalzelle's Omega Force books, similar expectations, similar results. He writes excellent military space opera. Plots/Action/Character all functional. Recommend if you like that sort of thing

Oh cool, I'm going to give Omega Rising a shot then. Seems to be quick read at about 200 pages.

 

[Piecake]

Audible has a Great Courses sale going on right now. Each course costs 6.95 and 75 of them are on sale. This is absolutely going to wreck my pocket book because I already have like 20 i want to buy. Good god...

 

[Sch1sm]

Borrowed this from a friend since it's been sitting on my list since this winter.

Spoiler

:c

 

[Mumei]

Reading two books in exchange for one? That's a chump's deal. You're a chump is what you are!

She had already bought the books before she suggested the trade.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

She had already bought the books before she suggested the trade.

 

[disappeared]

"The Garden of Eden"

Saved it for last, out of respect for Hemingway's life's work. Started last night and nearly finished it. Tonight's read is going to be bittersweet, as there will be no new stories after this.

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Why is the non fiction portion of the OP so bare. Can I make suggestions?

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Finished The Hunger Games. I was obviously not expecting any literary masterwork since it's written from a sixteen-year-old's point of view. But I liked Katniss's response to the sheer violence demonstrated in the games and the impact of the capitol's ire upon her after their return to regular life. Enjoyed thoroughly.

I like the genre that seems to have been created by these books,but I just wish we got male Katniss esque characters. Writers could at least alter that part of the formula.

 

[Maklershed]

Why is the non fiction portion of the OP so bare. Can I make suggestions?

Absolutely. Please do. And it's so bare because people tend to only make threads about fiction (specifically sci-fi).

Also if anyone sees a book recommendation thread out in OT please feel free to link it here so we can all join the conversation and so I definitely see it and can add it to the OP.

 

[Gordon0Freeman]

.

My next read when it releases on Tuesday

 

[Zeyphersan]

I'm still in the middle of A Storm of Swords. Every time I try and watch the show, I think "I should just finish the books first!" Every time I pick up my Kindle to read it, I think "I've already seen this part in the show, hurry up already." Nothing ever gets done

Plus I think I'm starting to confuse the events in the book with the events in the show.

 

[kinoki]

Making my way through In Search of Lost Time volume 2. It's taking longer than expected. Got some Orwell and Fitzgerald lined up once I'm done later this week.

 

[BorkBork]

Oh, definitely. The Book of the New Sun does not require a lot endurance to read because of that.

As for myself, I am reading:

I also have On Such A Full Sea and A Tree Grows in Brooklyn on my to-do list this month. hope to get back on track.

Hey Mumei, how are you finding A Girl is a Half Formed Thing? I attended an event featuring the author last year and her reading blew my mind. I'm not sure how the prose would translate being read.

For those aspiring authors who don't know McBride's story, it took her 9 years of repeated rejections to publish her debut book and it won a crapton of awards.

 

[Mumei]

Hey Mumei, how are you finding A Girl is a Half Formed Thing? I attended an event featuring the author last year and her reading blew my mind. I'm not sure how the prose would translate being read.

For those aspiring authors who don't know McBride's story, it took her 9 years of repeated rejections to publish her debut book and it won a crapton of awards.

I'm finding it challenging. It's sort of like prose-poetry in the sense that I don't immediately have a sense of the rhythm with which I should be reading it. There are moments when it places me so immediately inside the narrator's head that I feel like I'm thinking what she's thinking and experiencing what she's experiencing at least vicariously, and there are other times where I feel alienated and lost. I really enjoy it overall and would be high on my list of things to reread, in spite of my rather imperfect grasp, but it's obviously something I don't feel I could widely recommend.

I looked up a video of her reading it after seeing your post, and it's actually quite wonderful. I am reminded of my experience of having been introduced to e.e. cummings' anyone lived in a pretty how town at a friend's wedding, where the difference between my uninspired reading and the incantatory reading of the poety was worlds apart. I'm going to get the audiobook as soon as I can now. Thanks for pointing this out!

 

[Dedication Through Light]

Finished American Enterprise: A History of Business in America

It is a pretty fantastic hardcover book with great color pictures of various photos from the Smithsonian Collection detailing the evolution of American business. It started with the start of business from the splitting of England ties to America with the honor handshake type based business practices of the early American time (for example home sewed clothing, slave trading, and farming) to eventually the spreading of American people to the western reaches of the country through Louisiana Purchases, Spain and Florida, deals with the ones that held Texas and the West Coast and more. Although we learned some of it in school it was fascinating to see the book give some focus to some of the indigenous peoples who were getting involved with trading and selling to Americans (though sad about the fate of their land). The book profiles several key figures in each of the time periods, and most gratefully a focus of minorities and even female business. After the westward spread it became more interesting as the book took time to show how advertising was done in this time to current as well as the growth of credit to the development of plastic cards and more. Transportation businesses was shown too. I do wish they did go more into the virtual business that are in our current time as that is the only weakness of the book. The final segment on the 21st century business and more felt kind of short due to really only focusing on how services have developed for lending money (the Great Recession). Though I did enjoy how over the course of the book we could see how the government had to play around with little business control, to too much control, to decreased control. So that balance was an good narrative to follow.

All in all it was a fast paced fascinating read on American business. The scholarly short essays included from people who held positions in some of the biggest companies (Ford, "Can Business Serve Society) to some government regulators (Head of the FDIC a few years ago, "Business and Consumers: What Makes For A Great Relationship?") were also entertaining. Most memorable was Sally Greenberg (Executive Director of the National Consumers League), "Who's Minding Out Business?" going into how consumer protection has always been needed and must be needed due to continuing issues. One may remember the Consumer Reports reporting on leaky radiation from microwaves or the SUV's prone to rollover issues.

 

[Issun23]

I hope you enjoy it. I thought the first book took awhile to warm up, but the subsequent books build very nicely upon the foundation that the first one sets up. If you think the first one is pretty good, you'll probably really enjoy the sequels.

I am almost through with Part One and yes, this introduction to the Lady Trent is very gentle but I think also necessary. An expedition looms large on the horizon however. Can't wait, really.

I like the genre that seems to have been created by these books,but I just wish we got male Katniss esque characters. Writers could at least alter that part of the formula.

I have not yet read The Maze Runner by James Dashner, but it has a male protagonist and it has been compared favourably with The Hunger Games.

 

[Althane]

Anyone else reading Max Gladstone's Craft sequence? Wanted to know if I'm the only one that thought that they've been going downhill since book one. Three Parts Dead was fantastic, and I devoured it. Then Two Serpents Rise was alright, but it took time, and I sorta stumbled through the book.

Now, with Full Fathom Five, I'm halfway through the book, and restarting, because it isn't catching my attention, and I just feel disconnected and confused about it. This isn't something that happens often with books, so... wondering if I'm the only one that feels this way.

Edit: Also, it seems that Fated Blades #3 (Disciple of the Wind) came out. I feel similarly with this one, the first one was great, the second one struggled to keep my interest. Has anyone read this? Opinions?

 

[ShaneB]

I'm still in the middle of A Storm of Swords. Every time I try and watch the show, I think "I should just finish the books first!" Every time I pick up my Kindle to read it, I think "I've already seen this part in the show, hurry up already." Nothing ever gets done

Plus I think I'm starting to confuse the events in the book with the events in the show.

Had the same instance when I was the reading books through season 3. When that "what happens next?!" mystique isn't there, that desire to keep going is often missing. So I am rarely inclined to read a book I've already seen the movie for, just seems like it will be a half hearted experience.

I finished up "Crazy for the Storm" last night. Really liked it, and the Father/Son relationship really hit emotionally as expected. Fast read as well which I really needed.

In the mood for light reading, so I'll go back to some baseball reading. Will start this next..

The Bullpen Gospels: Major League Dreams of a Minor League Veteran by Dirk Hayhurst

 

[Haly]

Who would've guessed that the great American novel would be so homoerotic?

 

[KingGondo]

Reading The Goblin Emperor by Katherine Addison because of the Hugo backlash. Good so far.

Also picking The Looming Tower by Lawrence Wright back up after dropping it several months ago. Going on vacation in a couple weeks so I should have time to finish both pretty quickly.

 

[sparky2112]

Who would've guessed that the great American novel would be so homoerotic?

A man gets lonely on the sea, my friend.

 

[Caode]

Just ordered this. Probably won't be here until either Friday, or next Monday. I've heard good stuff. Anyone read it?

 

[besada]

Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson

Nearly finished. This is my second time through. The first time I stopped about half-way through. This time I'm enjoying the later half of the book much more.

Next up, Permutation City by Greg Egan.

Great books, both of them. I urge you to read Egan's Diaspora. As fascinating as Permutation City is, Diaspora takes it to the next level regarding blended machine/human consciousness. Egan's one of my very favorite science fiction authors.

So, I'm reading the Hugo's. All of them. I started in 1953 and am currently up to 1962. I've read a bunch of them prior to this, but my rule is that if
I haven't read it in the last five years, I'll re-read it. I'll probably post some general Hugo thoughts, and maybe a "Best of the Hugos" recommendations. So far, I've enjoyed reading the older stuff, but each book gets a little closer to a palatable modern reading style. Of the first nine books, I think Fritz Leiber's Big Time and Miller's A Canticle for Leibowitz are the best written.

 

[Mumei]

I have started listening to the Books on the Nightstand podcast recently. It features two hosts, Ann Kingman and Michael Kindness, who work in the publishing industry and do weekly / biweekly podcast where they spend about 15 - 25 minutes talking about a books that fit a particular theme (graphic novels for someone who hasn't read them, mystery, cookbooks, books that have upcoming films, nonfiction for fiction readers, upcoming books getting a lot of buzz, mid-year favorites, etc.) and a segment at the end where they talk about a book that isn't out yet, but is coming out in the next few months. Of course, listening to the old (2008 - 9) episodes means that those "upcoming" books have been out for years, but I'm still learning about a ton of books that sound interesting, and the hosts are really great at describing the books with minimal spoilers.

 

[sparky2112]

I have started listening to the Books on the Nightstand podcast recently. It features two hosts, Ann Kingman and Michael Kindness, who work in the publishing industry and do weekly / biweekly podcast where they spend about 15 - 25 minutes talking about a books that fit a particular theme (graphic novels for someone who hasn't read them, mystery, cookbooks, books that have upcoming films, nonfiction for fiction readers, upcoming books getting a lot of buzz, mid-year favorites, etc.) and a segment at the end where they talk about a book that isn't out yet, but is coming out in the next few months. Of course, listening to the old (2008 - 9) episodes means that those "upcoming" books have been out for years, but I'm still learning about a ton of books that sound interesting, and the hosts are really great at describing the books with minimal spoilers.

Nice find. Will check it out. I scanned this year's shows, and there's good stuff there...