That sounds interesting. Is it any good? From what viewpoint does he write?
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What are you reading? (October 2013)
- Thread starter Maklershed
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That sounds interesting. Is it any good? From what viewpoint does he write?
Range of Ghosts, by Elizabeth Bear
So far so good. I'm still randomly getting confused with the names though. lol
Best fantasy series of the past five years. Good choice.
EverythingShiny
Member
I missed the entire September thread! Whoops.
I read The Passage, The Twelve, and Doctor Sleep in pretty quick succession. I think The Passage and The Twelve were a little too hyped for me. I don't really like how Cronin treats his female characters so that was a bit of a bummer. I absolutely loved Doctor Sleep, though, and very much agree with Besada that people who read The Shining first will be happier with it than people who saw the movie and are expecting a sequel to the movie. I didn't think it was that scary but I still loved it all the same.
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Since it's October, I've decided to just read horror this month. I'm reading NOS4A2 and really enjoying it so far. I liked both Horns and Heart-Shaped Box but so far, NOS4A2 takes the cake. Also, it amuses me that Hill refers to people occasionally as rubes in NOS4A2, since King uses that word so heavily in Joyland and Doctor Sleep. I know Hill helped his dad with the ending for 11/22/63 so I wonder how much they discuss their respective works with one another.
After I finish, I'll be starting on Mira Grant's Newsflesh trilogy. Any other horror recommendations?
Also, any recs for non-fiction books regarding the Cold War era? I've just finished watching The Americans and I'd like to read more about that time period.
I read The Passage, The Twelve, and Doctor Sleep in pretty quick succession. I think The Passage and The Twelve were a little too hyped for me. I don't really like how Cronin treats his female characters so that was a bit of a bummer. I absolutely loved Doctor Sleep, though, and very much agree with Besada that people who read The Shining first will be happier with it than people who saw the movie and are expecting a sequel to the movie. I didn't think it was that scary but I still loved it all the same.
I didn't even miss the presence of the Overlook (some reviews on Amazon expressed disappointment that Doctor Sleep didn't take place in the Overlook. What?!) since I was so happy to be reading about what happened to Danny and how he was able to turn his life around. I thought the ending was surprisingly happy and good
Since it's October, I've decided to just read horror this month. I'm reading NOS4A2 and really enjoying it so far. I liked both Horns and Heart-Shaped Box but so far, NOS4A2 takes the cake. Also, it amuses me that Hill refers to people occasionally as rubes in NOS4A2, since King uses that word so heavily in Joyland and Doctor Sleep. I know Hill helped his dad with the ending for 11/22/63 so I wonder how much they discuss their respective works with one another.
After I finish, I'll be starting on Mira Grant's Newsflesh trilogy. Any other horror recommendations?
Also, any recs for non-fiction books regarding the Cold War era? I've just finished watching The Americans and I'd like to read more about that time period.
NOS4A2 feels a lot like early King to me....especially the vulgarity of the Gasmask Man.
Kyleripman
Member
I ended up not loving it, although the next-to-last story
about the loggers finding the town in the woods
Currently reading Mardi by Herman Melville, slowly working my way through all of his books.
Also there's a nice daily deal for Blood Gospel by James Rollins/Rebecca Cantrell today. I haven't read it, but I generally enjoy Rollins for quick, fun reads.
Kindle: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B0089LOGDE/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Nook: http://www.barnesandnoble.com/u/ebook-nook-daily-find-bargain-deal/379003102/
AngmarsKing701
Member
The Gold Coast by Nelson DeMille is a recent non fantasy book I enjoyed.
AngmarsKing701
Member
I could have sworn I read something else by her but I don't recognize anything when I look at her titles. Huh. Have to check this out.
sparky2112
Member
Ja, Gold Coast IS good. This is before DeMille, like Clancy, cashed in like a total bitch. Good book...
Spanx McFranks
Banned
I just finished Anansi's Boys and started Quiet: The Power of Introverts in a World That Can't Stop Talking. I am thinking of reading Steelheart once I finish Quiet.
Haven't read the book in question, but I read some Walzer back in college and he's a pretty classically left-wing type of guy, if that's what you mean by viewpoint.
RepairmanJack
Member
A list of the 50 scariest novels finally got me to pick up a book and start reading. Finally decided to read Carrion Comfort, after I've been meaning to for years.
Finished Edie: An American Biography by Jean Stein
I thought it was great. It essentially tells the history of the Sedgwicks for the first hundred pages before moving onto an extraordinarily in depth story of Edie's life. It's told through interviews with over a dozen people, so you get slightly different versions of exactly what happened. It's sad just how dark her life got after she broke with Warhol. And she never, ever really had a bright moment in her life, so for it to get as bad as it did is just terrible.
The opening paragraph of the book, about the family graveyard, sums up the weirdness of the entire Sedgwick family very well.
I thought it was great. It essentially tells the history of the Sedgwicks for the first hundred pages before moving onto an extraordinarily in depth story of Edie's life. It's told through interviews with over a dozen people, so you get slightly different versions of exactly what happened. It's sad just how dark her life got after she broke with Warhol. And she never, ever really had a bright moment in her life, so for it to get as bad as it did is just terrible.
The opening paragraph of the book, about the family graveyard, sums up the weirdness of the entire Sedgwick family very well.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Pretty good daily deal today, Containment by Christian Cantrell. Good book, only 99 cents.
Containment by Christian Cantrell
Containment by Christian Cantrell
Jag
Member
Never even heard of it. I'll put it on the list.
Now I have finished the Discworld books I need to get my teeth into something else. Dunno what though, after going through the Culture, 2nd read of Game of Thrones and the Discworld books and a few others in the last 9 months I think a few stand alone books are in order.
I see Pratchett has released 2 Scifi boots Darkside of the Sun and Strata anyone read those if so What are they like?
I see Pratchett has released 2 Scifi boots Darkside of the Sun and Strata anyone read those if so What are they like?
sparky2112
Member
Great book. I even wrote DeMille a letter after reading it (this was back in the day, you know), and he was kind enough to write back. Good guy.
Tragicomedy
Member
Did you go through the entire series? I made it through the first seven so far this year and am taking a break. I've heard "Guards! Guards!" is top notch so I really need to get to that one.
What's your take on the overall series?
Yeah, I used to love DeMille's books. Gold Coast, General's Daughter, Talbot Odyssey, Cathedral, By the Rivers of Babylon, Charm School. He was a bestselling author who was actually a pretty good writer, paying as much attention to character as to blowing stuff up. I feel like he started to go downhill with Plum Island and hasn't really recovered. I liked that recent-ish Vietnam book though.
Jag
Member
Think the last one I read from him was Nightfall in 2005. Looks like he wrote Wild Fire in 2009 I will have to check out.
Yea finished them all (39 books I think) in about 2 months, couldn't put them down, the moment I read one I was downloading the next. The kindle app estimates your reading speed, average reading time was about 5 hours a book.
As for my overall take absolutely fucking awesome, I wish there were another 39.
Rug Monkey
Member
currently reading Wild Seed by Octavia Butler and liking it a lot
I thought Wild Seed was fantasticcurrently reading Wild Seed by Octavia Butler and liking it a lot
Just finished reading the Patternmaster series and it was all good, but Wild Seed was definitely the highlight.Tragicomedy
Member
I just finished Shadow Games by Glen Cook, book #5 in the Black Company series. ★★★★ The book was a great return to the "proper" series after the sidetracking of The Silver Spike (which was still very enjoyable). Shadow Games featured the most back story of the company and its beginnings, as well as the most political angles in the series so far. It's still Black Company, though, so you know it ends in massive-scale warfare. I did NOT see that ending coming...man, oh man.
I'm now starting The Way of Kings by Sanderson. Been putting it off all year as I've been intimidated by its size. Now that I finished my 50 book goal, I have no more excuses. I hope it's as amazing as everyone says it is.
I'm now starting The Way of Kings by Sanderson. Been putting it off all year as I've been intimidated by its size. Now that I finished my 50 book goal, I have no more excuses. I hope it's as amazing as everyone says it is.
This Tuesday I get to start reading this: http://www.amazon.com/dp/B00CGI3DZI/?tag=neogaf0e-20
I can't wait! Book one was just so good and I'm not really any sort of Werewolf fan.
I can't wait! Book one was just so good and I'm not really any sort of Werewolf fan.
Easystride
Member
Just started the Otherland series. Seems interesting so far, but I have only read 10%.
Finished Steelheart by Brandon Sanderson. Not too much to say on it. Just what I needed after The Affirmation. Very straightforward read with little depth to it. Fun though and I did finish it in a day. At this point though I feel like I prefer his Cosmere books to his non-Cosmere ones. All the easter eggs in those books and trying to figure out what's going on behind the scenes, adds something to the experience that I haven't really felt with the non-Cosmere stuff that I've read (Steelheart and Legion). We'll see how I feel after trying out The Rithmatist.
Currently reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. First book of his that I've tried. So far so good. It's made me chuckle a few times already.
Currently reading The Fault in Our Stars by John Green. First book of his that I've tried. So far so good. It's made me chuckle a few times already.
I finished this yesterday.
yesterday when I got up in the morning I decided to finish it before I went to the gym. After having read the final page the imagery really stayed with me as I got ready. Then during my workout in between really heavy sets of dead-lifting it finally started to hit me and I began to question what really just happened, I am sure anyone that has read the book knows what I am talking about.
Then when I got home I thought more of it, and the imagery washed over me. The morals and themes of the story are really powerful, and are delivered in an underhanded manner, but it all layers extremely well. To think this is my first Murakami book! I can't wait to read all of them.
yesterday when I got up in the morning I decided to finish it before I went to the gym. After having read the final page the imagery really stayed with me as I got ready. Then during my workout in between really heavy sets of dead-lifting it finally started to hit me and I began to question what really just happened, I am sure anyone that has read the book knows what I am talking about.
Then when I got home I thought more of it, and the imagery washed over me. The morals and themes of the story are really powerful, and are delivered in an underhanded manner, but it all layers extremely well. To think this is my first Murakami book! I can't wait to read all of them.
Easystride
Member
So good. I wish I could find another book that gives me the emotional reactions that it did.
Ventilaator
Banned
Started A Short History of Nearly Everything.
This book seems to have a lot of zeroes in it.
This book seems to have a lot of zeroes in it.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Saw The Long Earth and The Long War are both $1.99 today.
Also been reading Nine Inches: Stories. Pretty good collection so far, enjoying it and it's serving as a nice palate cleanser before I jump into something else.
Nine Inches: Stories by Tom Perrotta
Also been reading Nine Inches: Stories. Pretty good collection so far, enjoying it and it's serving as a nice palate cleanser before I jump into something else.
Nine Inches: Stories by Tom Perrotta
Snowman Prophet of Doom
Member
http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/12/b...oet-who-wrote-of-racism-dies-at-92.html?_r=2&
Finally, a major media outlet acknowledges the death of this American master.
Unfortunately, the poem the article chooses is the one that was the only poem available on the internet for some time, "The Negro", which is solid but doesn't really represent the man's depths nor poetic mastery. If you can ever find it, I highly recommend his "Whole Grain: Collected Poems", which is rare, at the moment, but a true literary gem. Perhaps if interest reignites to a great enough extent, his publisher - Lotus Press - will reprint that book, as well as his autobiography, which I've not read but am very interested in, given the man seems to have led an interesting life, including serving as the confidential secretary to Benjamin O. Davis, the first black general in the Air Force. He also co-edited "Dark Symphony", which, I understand, was seminal in helping African American literature to be taken seriously by critics and scholars.
Finally, a major media outlet acknowledges the death of this American master.
Unfortunately, the poem the article chooses is the one that was the only poem available on the internet for some time, "The Negro", which is solid but doesn't really represent the man's depths nor poetic mastery. If you can ever find it, I highly recommend his "Whole Grain: Collected Poems", which is rare, at the moment, but a true literary gem. Perhaps if interest reignites to a great enough extent, his publisher - Lotus Press - will reprint that book, as well as his autobiography, which I've not read but am very interested in, given the man seems to have led an interesting life, including serving as the confidential secretary to Benjamin O. Davis, the first black general in the Air Force. He also co-edited "Dark Symphony", which, I understand, was seminal in helping African American literature to be taken seriously by critics and scholars.
Maklershed
Member
I'd be interested in something like that too.
Yep. I snatched those up. I might not even get around to them, but the concept is intriguing and you can't go wrong for $4 for two books that are there if I want to read them.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Got a big Lost vibe from this. Of course it doesn't take place on an island, but switch the island for the apartment building and there ya go.
14 by Peter Clines
Same here, figured why not.
Read The Disaster Artist (the book by Oh Hai Mark from The Room) and really enjoyed it. It covered the production of pretty much every memorable scene in the movie, provided a lot of background on Wiseau, and made Sestero seem like a fairly likable guy. The only thing it's missing is a chapter or two covering what happened to everyone in the ten years since the movie.
Finished The Republic of Thieves today (the third Locke Lamora book) and it was... different and not in a particularly great way. It felt more like a connecting book in a series than an actual adventure on its own, and I feel like either the main story or the flashback story could have used a good long con to give the book some identity.
Finished The Republic of Thieves today (the third Locke Lamora book) and it was... different and not in a particularly great way. It felt more like a connecting book in a series than an actual adventure on its own, and I feel like either the main story or the flashback story could have used a good long con to give the book some identity.
Is Octavia E. Butler's stuff comparable to Le Guin? And should I start with any particular book?currently reading Wild Seed by Octavia Butler and liking it a lot
Diseased Yak
Gold Member
Wow, really? Elaborate, please. I'm reading Sanderson's The Way of Kings now, but I'm about done, and I'll have a break between it and the 2nd book...
Maklershed
Member
Finished The Shining and started ..
Kindle
Shadows Linger by Glen Cook
Hard Copy
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
Cool. I'll check it out.
Kindle
Shadows Linger by Glen Cook
Hard Copy
Doctor Sleep by Stephen King
I got em too.
Got a big Lost vibe from this. Of course it doesn't take place on an island, but switch the island for the apartment building and there ya go.
14 by Peter Clines
Cool. I'll check it out.
I know you're not asking me but I'd personally say a blend of Margaret Atwood and Toni Morrison. And I'd recommend checking out Kindred. If you're looking for something post-apocalypse, check out her 'Parable' series.
After around 1600 pages and over a month of reading, I finally finished one of the most amazing books I've ever read: The Count of Monte Cristo by Alexandre Dumas. After this, everything is going to seem so...short. Oh, and just curious if anyone knows of a good, long, international, english translated novel that they'd like to suggest. I'm pretty open to anything right now. Except to Romance of the Three Kingdoms, I've read it after playing the video games to death...
And the shortness begins with Zagreb Cowboy by Alen Mattich.
And the shortness begins with Zagreb Cowboy by Alen Mattich.
Oh, the question was open to everyone!
And hmm. I'd be more interested in stuff that isn't post-apocalypse so I'll look into Kindred. Thank you!I definitely see some similarities, Butler seems to focus more on the alien on a biological level though. I've found some of her work to be quite unsettling if not disturbing - a good example is her short story collection Bloodchild, I thought some of the stories were great but also realllly creepy.
I've read her Patternmaster, Xenogenesis and Parable series so far - missing her standalone novels. Patternmaster is available in an omnibus, Seed to Harvest - I really liked the series, one thing to keep in mind though is that the writing is a bit uneven due to the reading order being different from the writing order. It starts with Wild Seed which is arguably the best, and ends with Patternmaster which is her very first novel. Xenogesis (also available in an omnibus, Lilith's Brood) is a lot more consistent. I started with Wild Seed myself and I'm happy I went that way, so I was a bit more prepared for Xenogesis... I know people who read Xenogesis only though and really liked it, so I guess either way could work.
Sounds pretty interesting. I may check it out!
edit: "Chosen by Audible.com as the best sci-fi novel of 2012" eh... this is sounding even better.
Grenouille
Member
The Invention of Morel by Bioy Casares is a bit similar to Lost.
it seems to have been referenced in the series too.
Jorge luis borges introduces the book by calling it a perfect novel. I wouldnt say that but yea, its good.
I finished up FlashForward (my friend got it for me as a gift since we watched the TV show) and The Colorado Kid (my cousin lent me this). Both were alright, but didn't do all that much for me. I do think I needed a little break on The Black Company books which I have been working through lately, so it was good for that. I am going to go back to Dreams of Steel now though.
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