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What are you reading? (October 2013)

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Just started reading this recently. Felt like an RPG game which is fine by me.
 

hEist

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.

purchased, thanks for it. Well, it don't need to be on an island. Just like the lost feeling. kinda mysterious. always intense in some way, that you want to know, what will happen next.

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.

it's on my to-read-list. thanks!
 

Seanspeed

Banned
Gone Girl.
Took this one up since I was kinda leaning towards it already. Glad I did. Was really entertaining from start-to-finish. Great twists along the way that kept you from ever being comfortable with your judgement of anybody. Thought it was quite a clever story.

I've seen No Country and read The Roadand I understand where you're coming from in that No Country just seems to stop. The Road doesn't do that in my opinion, there's an ending to it.

The Road may not be the ending you hope for but it's a respectable ending nonetheless. The relationship the reader builds with the father & son will dictate how you feel about the ending. Well worth the read. Absolutely beautifully written.
Good to hear. Its bought and on my to-read list. Thanks to the other suggestions as well. Right now, I saw a disaster book mentioned in another thread(Mother of Storms) that I think I'm gonna give a shot. I feel in the mood for something like that.
 

Mumei

Member
I am currently reading:

The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, by Catherynne M. Valente (90/256)
Gravity's Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon (573/776)
Dubliners, by James Joyce (94/285)
1Q84, by Haruki Murakami (800/925)

I'd like to finish the first and fourth by next Sunday, and all four in the next two weeks. Not sure what I'm going to read after that.
 
For those that have read the Gears of War books, which one is the best one? I'd like to start of with a continuation of Gears 3 (if there is one?) or a prequel to the videogame series (if there is one?). Thanks bros. Been craving and missing some badassness from the COG :(
 

Piecake

Member
I am currently reading:

The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, by Catherynne M. Valente (90/256)
Gravity's Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon (573/776)
Dubliners, by James Joyce (94/285)
1Q84, by Haruki Murakami (800/925)

I'd like to finish the first and fourth by next Sunday, and all four in the next two weeks. Not sure what I'm going to read after that.

The Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann
 

Piecake

Member
I will consider it!

I actually started Reading Don't Fix No Chevys: Literacy in the Lives of Young Men, which is really great so far. :x

Sounds interesting. The Magic Mountain is heavy on the philosophy, but also has some fantastic and dynamic characters. How could you not like a character named Mynheer Peeperkorn?
 
About 40% through Republic of Thieves. Better than Red Seas, but
I'd like to read the flashbacks in chronological order at some point.
 

Haly

One day I realized that sadness is just another word for not enough coffee.
The Count of Monte Cristo: 25%

After our hero escapes prison at the end of his 14 year long training arc, what does he do?

Advance the plot you say? Nonsense!

Time to dick around for half a decade and get high on hashish.
 

fakefaker

Member
The Count of Monte Cristo: 25%

After our hero escapes prison at the end of his 14 year long training arc, what does he do?

Advance the plot you say? Nonsense!

Time to dick around for half a decade and get high on hashish.

Sounds good to me. Besides, it takes time to set up revenge. And trust me, it's worth it.
 

arkon

Member
Finished The Fault in Our Stars. Enjoyed it overall (if that is the right word for these feelings). Made me laugh and also had me tearing up. I was getting irritated by Hazel towards the end though. There's the whole Dawson's Creek thing of: do kids really sounds like that these days? I'm trying to remember the kind of shit I was talking at that age. Maybe I just wasn't very bright.


Next up The Tyrant's Law by Daniel Abraham.
 

Bazza

Member
Finished Dark side of the Sun by Terry Pratchett yesterday, its quite interesting reading this after the Discworld books, you can see where he got ideas for some of his characters.

I reading Strata now, just read a bit where the main character so far in in a bar called The Broken Drum.
 

Mumei

Member
The Count of Monte Cristo: 25%

After our hero escapes prison at the end of his 14 year long training arc, what does he do?

Advance the plot you say? Nonsense!

Time to dick around for half a decade and get high on hashish.

Pfft. Edmond Dantés is making use of preptime!
 

thomaser

Member
Just reading schoolwork for now. Luckily, one of the courses is about American novellas. Last one I read was Melville's "Bartleby the Scrivener". Really weird and simple on the outside, but oozing with meaning once you start to look for what it's REALLY about.

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.
Easy: War and Peace or Anna Karenina by Tolstoy. Both are incredibly good. And long.

I will consider it!

You should do that. I know an old guy (80+) who is completely obsessed with The Magic Mountain, and reads it once a year at least. He claims that he finds lots of new things in it every time. I've read it only once, and found it fascinating though maybe a little too heavy on the philosophical side for me at that time. It's easy to see how it gets better on rereads.
 

Mumei

Member
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...

Looking for something long, you say?

The Story of the Stone, by Cao Xueqin! It's twice as long as The Count of Monte Cristo and just as awesome. Maybe better. I'll have to think about that, actually.
 

SaskBoy

Member
I finished Oryx and Crake by Margaret Atwood yesterday evening. The author had really great ideas, the world is interesting and some topics are quite thought-provoking. The big problem was the story imo. I constantly had the feeling that the story is kind of stuck and nothing happens (maybe that's because of the narrative style) and sometimes there were extremely boring parts that I'd have loved to skip. It was a great book to discuss in a group but I'm definitely not going to read the other two books of this trilogy.

You're missing out. The second book, The Year of the Flood, was much better than the first one in my opinion. The third, MaddAddam, had it's moments but was ultimately unsatisfying.

Just about finished another Margaret Atwood book. The Edible Women.
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Not sure how I feel about it. The main character is really stupid at times, like face-palming stupid.
 

Verdre

Unconfirmed Member
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Started The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

I'm liking it, but I don't always love the voice it's told in.
 
Reading Hydrogen Sonata - Iain M. Banks
Kinda sad because I know it's the last culture thing I'll ever read. Sublimation always seemed like the weakest part of that universe and this has not improved my opinion of it much, so far.
 

Cousteau

Member
Whats the name of the book about the woman talking in 1st person about being the last person on earth?
I can see the cover but alas. ..
 

Leeness

Member
Currently reading three books haha.

It by Stephen King on audio book. It was kind of difficult to keep a lot of the characters and times straight at first with audio because I couldn't flip back and name check and stuff. It's getting better though, I know all of the main Loser club and the bullies, and I've sorted out some of the events (50s events, then Adrian's murder starts the 80s scenes, which has Mike call the rest, which results in Stanley doing his thing). I got confused with the times of events with Stan's wife and I thought "the night of the bath" was an event she referenced and she and Stan moved past it but it was just the omniscient third person narrative.

Anyway, I'm getting into the groove of it now.

Also still reading More Than This by Patrick Ness slowly but surely.

Aaaaaand reading Just One Year by Gayls Foreman. It's my sappy teen book for the moment and aaaaah :')
 
I obliterated Clash of Kings over the course of a week or two. Looking forward to grabbing storm of swords after schoolwork lets up a bit.

Also I just remembered I have assigned reading to do for my Uni scifi class. Need to dig out the syllabus.... wonder what short stories I get to read this week. Yay reading that isn't procrastination.
 
You're missing out. The second book, The Year of the Flood, was much better than the first one in my opinion. The third, MaddAddam, had it's moments but was ultimately unsatisfying.

I don't really like not finishing a series so maybe I'm going to read the other two books too - but not in the near future. First I'm going to try another book of Margaret Atwood - the Handmaid's Tale - and then I'm going to start with The Three Musketeers. I'm really looking forward to both books.
 

Burger

Member
Steelheart - Brandon Sanderson - ★★★☆☆

Thoroughly entertaining. Should have been twice as long, book was far too fast paced. Is this a YA book? Sure felt like it...
 

Nymerio

Member
I started reading Empire in Black and Gold a couple days ago. Started out really rocky and I was almost considering dropping it but then it picked up it's pace and I'm now enjoying it.

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I started reading Empire in Black and Gold a couple days ago. Started out really rocky and I was almost considering dropping it but then it picked up it's pace and I'm now enjoying it.

517h8ZCZbJL.jpg

Interesting. I read the sample for that book and dropped it as it didn't grab me. Might have to go back at some point.

Just finished Matheson's I Am Legend. Very good book. Had a couple of really intense emotional parts. Short and different enough from the movie to be worth the time.

I've now read two vampire books in a row, this one and Powers' "The Stress of Her Regard," so while I want to stick with the Halloween-like theme, I'm looking for something slightly different. I have a crapload of zombie and post apocalyptic stuff on my Kindle, including:
- Extinction Point - Jones
- The Zombie Chronicles - Peebles
- Day by Day Armageddon - Bourne

Any of these more recommendable than another? Anyone have a better recommendation for "scary"? I also have Mira Grant's "Feed" in paperback but was leaning toward something on Kindle.
 
Steelheart - Brandon Sanderson - ★★★☆☆

Thoroughly entertaining. Should have been twice as long, book was far too fast paced. Is this a YA book? Sure felt like it...

It's Sanderson, so yes. I kid! I kid! (not really). It's being marketed as YA.
 
Steelheart - Brandon Sanderson - ★★★☆☆

Thoroughly entertaining. Should have been twice as long, book was far too fast paced. Is this a YA book? Sure felt like it...

It sure is, and it becomes especially apparent with some of the dialogue. Having said that, I really dug the characters and the concept of Epics. I'll be sticking with the series for at least another book to see how it pans out.
 

SaskBoy

Member
I don't really like not finishing a series so maybe I'm going to read the other two books too - but not in the near future. First I'm going to try another book of Margaret Atwood - the Handmaid's Tale - and then I'm going to start with The Three Musketeers. I'm really looking forward to both books.

The Handmaid's tale is one of her best. I'm kind of on an Atwood spree. The last five books I've read were when by her. Not sure what I'll read next, maybe the blind assassin. Another Atwood book hats haha
 
Interesting. I read the sample for that book and dropped it as it didn't grab me. Might have to go back at some point.

Just finished Matheson's I Am Legend. Very good book. Had a couple of really intense emotional parts. Short and different enough from the movie to be worth the time.

I've now read two vampire books in a row, this one and Powers' "The Stress of Her Regard," so while I want to stick with the Halloween-like theme, I'm looking for something slightly different. I have a crapload of zombie and post apocalyptic stuff on my Kindle, including:
- Extinction Point - Jones
- The Zombie Chronicles - Peebles
- Day by Day Armageddon - Bourne

Any of these more recommendable than another? Anyone have a better recommendation for "scary"? I also have Mira Grant's "Feed" in paperback but was leaning toward something on Kindle.

I'm going with Ania Ahlborn's Seed.
 
simultaneously reading
The Dispossessed by Guin
World War Z by Brooks

I hate the way guin writes but its one of my girlfriends favorite books so i am going to keep reading.
 

Burger

Member
It sure is, and it becomes especially apparent with some of the dialogue. Having said that, I really dug the characters and the concept of Epics. I'll be sticking with the series for at least another book to see how it pans out.

Sparks!

Really became clear a few chapters in. Very little exposition, massive amounts of foreshadowing (typically Sanderson).

Still, enjoyable, quick and a cool concept.
 

Nezumi

Member
I think I might continue with the Expanse series next but I'm wondering. Should I read The butcher of Anderson station before I start the second book? Does it add anything to the reading experience or is it OK to just read it after I finish the series?
 

This brings up an interesting point, which I think stems from Sanderson being a devout Mormon. His characters don't swear! Unless I'm missing something, I can't recall any swear words dropping. I'm reading The Way of Kings now and everything is "Storms!" Weird.

I think I might continue with the Expanse series next but I'm wondering. Should I read The butcher of Anderson station before I start the second book? Does it add anything to the reading experience or is it OK to just read it after I finish the series?

Technically, it predates Leviathan Wakes, so you'd want to read it sooner rather than later. I went through the entire series last month and definitely recommend reading it. It's a very short, quick read but gives you some insight into Colonel Johnson and why he thinks and acts the way he does. If you skip it, you won't miss out on much but it's a good read.

By comparison, after reading Caliban's War I don't think there's much value added to reading Gods of Risk, another short story in the series. It tangentially touches on one of my favorite characters in the series, but there's very little plot or meat to the story. You can easily skip it.

Also, CONGRATS! You're delving into the best sci-fi series I've read in a long time.
 

arkon

Member
This brings up an interesting point, which I think stems from Sanderson being a devout Mormon. His characters don't swear! Unless I'm missing something, I can't recall any swear words dropping. I'm reading The Way of Kings now and everything is "Storms!" Weird.

Yeah. Apparently he gets people coming up to him at signings and such, telling him to tone his work down. I'm pretty sure there was a blog post or two about it.
 

Maiar_m

Member
Gaf, make me smart.

No but seriously, I want to read something life changing, I don't know how to express my hunger for a book that'll be so good it'll scar / mark / inspire me for life any better.

It can be fiction (not Fiction the poster, she's not a book) or not, any genre really. I'm open to everything, I just want you to tell me it's the best thing you've ever read. Pretty please? :(
 

Verdre

Unconfirmed Member
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Finished The Book Thief by Markus Zusak

Ehh. I liked the idea of the story, but the slightly silly voice it's told in kind of ruined it for me. I enjoyed the last ~10% or so of it the most.
 

Piecake

Member
Much better than his other YA books though (Alcatraz and Rithmatist).

I actually enjoyed Rithmatist more. I think Steelheart is probably the weakest Sanderson book that ive read. The dialogue and characters just didnt do it for me. Ill check out the second book because the ending was pretty cool
 

Empty

Member
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i guess the graphic novel memoir is a bit of a cliche now but damn they get me every time. loved this just as i did maus, blankets and persepolis. something about the honesty and directness i guess.
 
Gaf, make me smart.

No but seriously, I want to read something life changing, I don't know how to express my hunger for a book that'll be so good it'll scar / mark / inspire me for life any better.

It can be fiction (not Fiction the poster, she's not a book) or not, any genre really. I'm open to everything, I just want you to tell me it's the best thing you've ever read. Pretty please? :(

Ishmael: An Adventure of the Mind and Spirit

Eating Animals

Touching the Void: The True Story of One Man's Miraculous Survival

Wonder
 
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