What are you reading? (November 2015)

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kswiston said:
I have added everyone who has posted a Goodreads profile prior to this post (assuming you weren't on my list already). If anyone else is interested in adding me and seeing my new 4-star ratings every 1-2 weeks, you can do so here:

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/32224879-kyle-swiston



I would definitely still recommend it. Part of the disappointment came from me feeling like I should have been given another 200-300 pages to see things through (even though the book was already 500 pages).

EDIT: Mumei: When I look at the Venn Diagram that Goodreads generates when comparing my library to yours, I feel like I am looking at one of those Astronomy diagrams showing the size of the earth in comparison to Jupiter.
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Yeah, I feel ya. I wouldn't have minded more from that book. Or another Cryptonomicon. I did try reading his Baroque cycle, but I just couldn't get into it. Trying to decide if I should give Seveneves a go now.

And, looking at Mumei's shelves makes me want to do something silly like spend the next three days just loading up and rating all the books I can remember in my life just so I don't feel so bare in comparison. -_-
 
kswiston said:
I have been pretty lucky with most of my book picks these past two years. I know my Goodreads account makes it seem like I just give everything a 4, but I have enjoyed almost everything that I have read since picking the hobby back up.

It helps that certain genres were pretty much wide open.
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Yeah, taking a look at my goodreads profile, it looks like my star average is 4.03. I'm so picky about books that I usually end up reading only stuff that I like.

Speaking of GR, https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/15985622-arttu

e: wow my profile pic is old
 
I'm just finishing up 'Wonderful Life' by Stephen J. Gould, It's pretty neat.

It's a nice change of pace, reading about politics and (human) history can kind of burn you out.

Does anyone have any recommendations for similar style books? I want to learn more about the mega-fauna age.
 
I always forget to keep my goodreads updated. Oh well.

I think I'm leaning toward Book of the New Sun next, based on what people said on the last page.
 
Peru said:
I've been saying this for a while.. maybe I should make it my new year's resolution.
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I made an account last year. I just added the books I had read in 2014 (and going forward), and those I could remember reading in the past off the top of my head. It's not a complete list of my life's reading accomplishments. Otherwise, I'd have to go back and add like 30 Goosebumps books and other random things I read as a kid.
 
Speaking of goodreads, has anyone ever read a bunch of objectively bad, terrible books that you find entertaining because you were in the mood for some pure non-thinking, escapist, guilty pleasure entertainment, but are now embarrassed to add them to your goodreads account?

Kinda in that situation right now...
don't judge me
 
Piecake said:
Speaking of goodreads, has anyone ever read a bunch of objectively bad, terrible books that you find entertaining because you were in the mood for some pure non-thinking, escapist, guilty pleasure entertainment, but are now embarrassed to add them to your goodreads account?

Kinda in that situation right now...
don't judge me
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That's why you uncheck the "add to my feed" box when you add it. They'll have to dig for your shame!
 
Piecake said:
Speaking of goodreads, has anyone ever read a bunch of objectively bad, terrible books that you find entertaining because you were in the mood for some pure non-thinking, escapist, guilty pleasure entertainment, but are now embarrassed to add them to your goodreads account?

Kinda in that situation right now...
don't judge me
Click to expand...

All the time.
 
Piecake said:
Speaking of goodreads, has anyone ever read a bunch of objectively bad, terrible books that you find entertaining because you were in the mood for some pure non-thinking, escapist, guilty pleasure entertainment, but are now embarrassed to add them to your goodreads account?

Kinda in that situation right now...
don't judge me
Click to expand...

Why yes! I do read fantasy novels sometimes.
 
MattyG said:
Welp, I just bought The Complete Fiction of HP Lovecraft. Where do I start? Just at the beginning?
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Starting at the beginning may not be your best bet. If its in chronological order you would be starting with Lovecraft's juvenilia and as such is a bit weaksauce. Lovecraft's best work was arguably written later in his career. So if you really want a taste of his best work, then try some stories like The Colour Out of Space, The Dunwich Horror, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, or then maybe The Call of Cthulhu. If you want a few very quick reads then try Dagon, Pickman's Model, or the Music of Erich Zann.
 
220px-The_Whole_Shebang_cover.jpg


I just realized I got distracted when I was reading this 20 years ago and never finished it.
Doing that now.

Cosmology, Big Bang Theory, Black Holes, Dark Matter, a bit of quantum physics to support the ideas. Lots of historical perspectives.
 
nailbombxx said:
Starting at the beginning may not be your best bet. If its in chronological order you would be starting with Lovecraft's juvenilia and as such is a bit weaksauce. Lovecraft's best work was arguably written later in his career. So if you really want a taste of his best work, then try some stories like The Colour Out of Space, The Dunwich Horror, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, or then maybe The Call of Cthulhu. If you want a few very quick reads then try Dagon, Pickman's Model, or the Music of Erich Zann.
Click to expand...

I'd definitively read the Cthulhu mythos in chronological order.
 
Oh yeah and add me on Goodreads. I still need to set up my profile a bit, but I'm hoping that using this more will get me excited about reading again. I've been out of the habit for a couple years. https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/46690869-matt-gregoire

nailbombxx said:
Starting at the beginning may not be your best bet. If its in chronological order you would be starting with Lovecraft's juvenilia and as such is a bit weaksauce. Lovecraft's best work was arguably written later in his career. So if you really want a taste of his best work, then try some stories like The Colour Out of Space, The Dunwich Horror, The Shadow Over Innsmouth, or then maybe The Call of Cthulhu. If you want a few very quick reads then try Dagon, Pickman's Model, or the Music of Erich Zann.
Click to expand...
Ah, okay. I read The Beast in the Cave (first in this collection, I'm assuming the first he wrote) and I was like "ehhhhh?", but then I did some digging and realized he wrote it when he was 14. So yeah, I'll definitely skip to some of those you mentioned, since they're the ones I always hear about anyways. There's no particular order that any of them have to be read in right? They all share a universe but are standalone?
 
H.Protagonist said:
I did try reading his Baroque cycle, but I just couldn't get into it.
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How far did you get into it? The first book (part 1 of the first volume) is a pretty dry introduction to the story if you don't care about science history and 17th century England. The second book in volume 1 has a radical change in tone and structure.
 
MattyG said:
Ah, okay. I read The Beast in the Cave (first in this collection, I'm assuming the first he wrote) and I was like "ehhhhh?", but then I did some digging and realized he wrote it when he was 14. So yeah, I'll definitely skip to some of those you mentioned, since they're the ones I always hear about anyways. There's no particular order that any of them have to be read in right? They all share a universe but are standalone?
Click to expand...

They are standalone stories but a number of them are still connected in a way. The only thing is that at one point Lovecraft began to write what is now labelled as "Cthulhu Mythos" stories in which he begins to create his own mythology of deities and monsters that are used and referenced throughout a number of different works. But none of the stories should be lost on you if you haven't read one before it. For example, if you read the The Dunwich Horror, before you read the The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, you may be a little bit more unfamiliar with a being known as Yog-Sothoth but its not a dealbreaker

If you really want to read them in order, the core Cthulhu mythos in order is a bit like this, give or take a few stories:
The Call of Cthulhu (February, 1928)
The Dunwich Horror (April, 1929)
The Whisperer in Darkness (August, 1931)
The Dreams in the Witch House (July 1933)
At the Mountains of Madness (March-April, 1936)
The Shadow Over Innsmouth (April, 1936)
The Shadow Out of Time (June, 1936)
The Haunter of the Dark (December, 1936)
Click to expand...

Reading them in order isn't mandatory, but it would certainly help. However, there are of course a lot of Lovecraft's stories that do not feature any of his iconic deities such as The Color Out of Space. I would in fact recommend you start with that story, it is immediately satisfying without prior knowledge of any Cthulhus or Nyarlothoteps or Shoggoths.
 
Get Katja sucked so jumping into Empire Ascendant by Kameron Hurley. My Gf bought me a Bookrug yesterday and I can't wait to use it. woo!

empire-ascendant-by-kameron-hurley-495x750.jpg
 
Piecake said:
Speaking of goodreads, has anyone ever read a bunch of objectively bad, terrible books that you find entertaining because you were in the mood for some pure non-thinking, escapist, guilty pleasure entertainment, but are now embarrassed to add them to your goodreads account?

Kinda in that situation right now...
don't judge me
Click to expand...
Simon R. Green's Nightside series, used too many deus ex machinas and the protagonist's vaguely defined power cop outs for my liking, but I still read most of them.
 
nailbombxx said:
They are standalone stories but a number of them are still connected in a way. The only thing is that at one point Lovecraft began to write what is now labelled as "Cthulhu Mythos" stories in which he begins to create his own mythology of deities and monsters that are used and referenced throughout a number of different works. But none of the stories should be lost on you if you haven't read one before it. For example, if you read the The Dunwich Horror, before you read the The Case of Charles Dexter Ward, you may be a little bit more unfamiliar with a being known as Yog-Sothoth but its not a dealbreaker

If you really want to read them in order, the core Cthulhu mythos in order is a bit like this, give or take a few stories:


Reading them in order isn't mandatory, but it would certainly help. However, there are of course a lot of Lovecraft's stories that do not feature any of his iconic deities such as The Color Out of Space. I would in fact recommend you start with that story, it is immediately satisfying without prior knowledge of any Cthulhus or Nyarlothoteps or Shoggoths.
Click to expand...
Awesome, thanks for the list! I read the first section of Call of Cthulhu and I love it. It's gonna take a bit because there's a lot of text on each page due to the relatively small font used in this collection and the writing style being a bit different than what I'm used to, but it'll be worth it. I may stop reading CoC and read The Color Out of Space though.
 
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