I can support both Wonderboys and Kavalier & Kaly. My wife would recommend The Yiddish Policeman's Union. Neither of us would recommend his short story collection, Mysteries of Pittsburgh.
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What are you reading? (October 2014)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
I can support both Wonderboys and Kavalier & Kaly. My wife would recommend The Yiddish Policeman's Union. Neither of us would recommend his short story collection, Mysteries of Pittsburgh.
Tragicomedy
Member
Those are the two I started with based on the internal chronology. I highly recommend skipping over Falling Free, though. It may be in the same universe, but there really aren't any substantial ties to what follows. It's basically a stand alone story that is decent, but not a good introduction to the world.
Maklershed
Member
Finished Yellow Crocus and starting Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J. Mann
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J. Mann
Chaboooon!
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J. Mann
Chaboooon!
postcyberpunk
Banned
I just felt it went nowhere. The end was a total letdown, but honestly I didn't know what I expected.
I got some other stuff up first, but I'll try to remember to let you know.
Jag
Member
I enjoy fantasy titles that throw in odd magic systems.
So far this is okay, not amazing not bad. Enjoyable. I'll probably finish the series if it keeps up.
Oh hell, literally just read some crazy twist I did not expect. Well shit that's interesting.
The series is pretty good. The Broken Eye just came out in August. I actually think the series gets better, so stick with it.
Grr. I wish I knew that ahead of time. I would have skipped Falling Free for now.
Diatribe1974
Member
Finished "Nagash the Sorceror" by Mike Lee and now am off to the 2nd book of the trilogy "Nagash the Unbroken" also by Mike Lee. Has been a great read so far.
Diatribe1974
Member
Double post. Mobile NeoGAF ate the other post.
Yeah I think the difference between the "reveal" moment in Finch and in Acceptance really shows how different the tone in the stories are too. In Finch it's very much a direct exposition dump in a "this is how it all went down" way, which is consistent with the pulpy noir nature of the story, but clashes with the previous tone of the Ambergris stories. In Acceptance, the reveal is done though descriptive imagery which the reader is left to think about and decipher on their own, and it doesn't really matter what you make of it because in the end the true nature of the origin is left simply unknowable, which is far more consistent with the strong Lovecraftian roots of the Southern Reach books.
sparky2112
Member
Highly-rated, very good collection of stories so far.
...and just shortlisted for the National Book Award.
Will start with that then.
Thanks for the heads up on the collection, almost purchased it.
Finished up The Wise Man's Fear by Patrick Rothfuss a few days back. I completely adored it and was sad to see it end. It was exactly the type of book I was in the mood for and I regret it only being 1,000 pages long.
The novella comes out sorta soon so wanna just read something quick in the mean time. Gonna read Life of Pi by Yann Martel next. It's been sitting on my shelf for awhile.
The novella comes out sorta soon so wanna just read something quick in the mean time. Gonna read Life of Pi by Yann Martel next. It's been sitting on my shelf for awhile.
it's a beautiful book which makes me want to travel but where were they in 1702 god #justice4basho
TheFightingFish
Member
I might like Yiddish Policeman's Union a touch more, but you can't go too wrong either way.
I really enjoy Chabon's attitudes about genres as well. As someone who reads and enjoys both genre and non-genre (What do we even call this? Realistic fiction? Literary Fiction?) fiction it's nice to see a serious author standing up for and participating in some of the odder nooks of fiction.
Chabon said:
NPR released the 2014 National Book Award Finalists. I'm curious to know if anyone has anything to say on this manner? I am curious to read a few of these novels while I'm out of the country.
Maklershed
Member
On the hard copy side I have to call a quick audible. A co-worker randomly (like seriously 100% out of the blue) gave me a book about Sully Sullenberger so I'm gonna read that quick.
Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters by Chesley B. Sullenberger
Highest Duty: My Search for What Really Matters by Chesley B. Sullenberger
Small break from Wizard's First Rule:
This is turning out to be a quick and enjoyable read. I'm liking it better than Sanderson's other YA book The Rhithmatist. The story is kinda straight forward, but he's a master at world building and magic systems and this world is very intriguing.
This is turning out to be a quick and enjoyable read. I'm liking it better than Sanderson's other YA book The Rhithmatist. The story is kinda straight forward, but he's a master at world building and magic systems and this world is very intriguing.
Finished Yellow Crocus and starting Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J. Mann
Tinseltown: Murder, Morphine, and Madness at the Dawn of Hollywood by William J. Mann
Chaboooon!
I'd be curious to know what book started this whole Title: Blank, Blank, and the Blanking of Blank. Almost every single popular non-fiction book's title is laid out this way.
KingKiller
Neo Member
Just read through DC Pierson's The Boy Who Couldn't Sleep and Never Had To and Irvine Welsh's Trainspotting again.
TBWCSANHT- Best YA novel I've ever read, the end especially is very moving.
Trainspotting- Most tonal and atmospheric novela I've read in quite awhile.
TBWCSANHT- Best YA novel I've ever read, the end especially is very moving.
Trainspotting- Most tonal and atmospheric novela I've read in quite awhile.
Couldn't really decide what fiction to read that would live up to The Child Thief, so I decided to start this. Perhaps a sort of comfort food book just to get back to reading something, and it will be a fun read since Gruden is one of my favourite Football personalities. Not expecting any sense of high literature, but just a fun fast read.
Do You Love Football?!: Winning with Heart, Passion, and Not Much Sleep - by Jon Gruden, Vic Carucci
Do You Love Football?!: Winning with Heart, Passion, and Not Much Sleep - by Jon Gruden, Vic Carucci
teruterubozu
Member
lol @ cover. Classic Gruden Chucky face.
sparky2112
Member
I'm sure Gruden is easier to read than to listen to. Jiminy Christmas...
Can I recommend Skagboys, by Irvine Welsh? It's a prequel to Trainspotting and shows us how the wee lads got hooked on thae skag. It's also much better than Porno, the sequel to Trainspotting.
Just finished Clariel - another story set in the Old Kingdom world by Garth Nix. Adored the first 3 after rereading them a year back and was pumped when I saw this would be coming out.
Was let down horribly. 2nd time this month. The main character is completely unlikeable,
. Finally, at the end of the book its revealed that the main character is in fact
My only hope for the rest of the month is the new Rothfuss book. Would've much rather had a story that went back to the golden age of the Old Kingdom, or even further back. Mogget was the only redeeming part of this book.
Was let down horribly. 2nd time this month. The main character is completely unlikeable,
the story only starts like 60% of the way into the book, the Abhorsen and King both play 0 of a role, and no one cares
a minor villain from the Abhorsen trilogy that doesn't really do much of anything.
My only hope for the rest of the month is the new Rothfuss book. Would've much rather had a story that went back to the golden age of the Old Kingdom, or even further back. Mogget was the only redeeming part of this book.
Christoff Yurievich
Member
Finished "The Supernatural Enhancements" last night and you know what, fellow GAFer who recommended the book? We need to talk about that ending. Yeah.
British Monsoon
Member
Finished Stories of your life and others by Ted Chiang;
A good read with some intriguing stories, but I was a little disappointed to find that the opening story (Tower of Babylon) was my favourite of the collection and the author's first published work. That's not to say that the other stories weren't good, or lacked for invention and character, but none quite gripped me as much as the first.
Also finished Hooker by Lou Thesz;
This was an excellent read for a fan of pro-wrestling and its history, Lou gives a great account of not only his life and times, but also charts how the 'sport' left the carnival and made it to the big time. It also gives a unique look into the backstabbing politics of the promotional side of things, from a man who was well-known for playing by his rules alone. It's somewhat on the light side when it comes to usual pro-wrestling autobiography fare of road stories and pranks and Thesz is a bit curmudgeonly when it comes to dishing out praise for his peers, but this was enjoyable nonetheless.
I'll be working my way through these next;
A good read with some intriguing stories, but I was a little disappointed to find that the opening story (Tower of Babylon) was my favourite of the collection and the author's first published work. That's not to say that the other stories weren't good, or lacked for invention and character, but none quite gripped me as much as the first.
Also finished Hooker by Lou Thesz;
This was an excellent read for a fan of pro-wrestling and its history, Lou gives a great account of not only his life and times, but also charts how the 'sport' left the carnival and made it to the big time. It also gives a unique look into the backstabbing politics of the promotional side of things, from a man who was well-known for playing by his rules alone. It's somewhat on the light side when it comes to usual pro-wrestling autobiography fare of road stories and pranks and Thesz is a bit curmudgeonly when it comes to dishing out praise for his peers, but this was enjoyable nonetheless.
I'll be working my way through these next;
Soakedjunk
Member
I fucking loved this book! (Just finished it myself).
Are there any good hard sci-fi recommendations out there that might be similar to Andy Weir's The Martian?
KingKiller
Neo Member
Probably should have said that it was actually the second time I read Trainspotting. I've read skagboys, porno, trainspotting, and filth. Porno probably being the least driving and filth being the most cringeworthy.
Small break from Wizard's First Rule:
This is turning out to be a quick and enjoyable read. I'm liking it better than Sanderson's other YA book The Rhithmatist. The story is kinda straight forward, but he's a master at world building and magic systems and this world is very intriguing.
dat cover. I got the inferior edition with some teenage kid on the cover.
The description sounds pretty interesting, thanks for pointing this out!
He's got so many!
Boo, not a fan?
I love the man! Been a fun read so far.
nicoga3000
Saint Nic
I need a modern horror book I can put on my Note 4 for my flight to and from Orlando coming up. Any takers?
International covers are always better.
It can be interesting, but I'll warn you....it is difficult to like anyone in this book.
whatevermort
Member
Yeah. I don't like self-pimping much, but I wrote this:
It's had some good reviews and stuff. Yeah.
Edit: you said hard sf. This isn't that. Tonally similar, but not hard. (The main character isn't a scientist and doesn't understand the science, so it's not... Quite right. Anyway.)
Wizard's First Rule. The quality of the book is true horror. :-D
Nappuccino
Member
International covers are always better.
It can be interesting, but I'll warn you....it is difficult to like anyone in this book.
I got to the part with the Library Girl. Maybe it's because everyone else is clearly not likeable that it felt like Joe Hill was trying to hard to make her likeable and, thus, made her not likeable.
Is that a fair assessment, or should I reserve judgement as I go forward?
joeyjoejoeshabadoo
Member
I don't know, I really liked Vic as a character. She had her demons but I think she redeems herself by the end.International covers are always better.
It can be interesting, but I'll warn you....it is difficult to like anyone in this book.
NOS4A2 was a great book. There are some really creepy set pieces in there. I was genuinely creeped out by certain scenes, mostly anything involving Bing.
I liked her too.
sparky2112
Member
Boo, not a fan?
I love his enthusiasm and clearly he loves the game, but so did Madden, and they've both got that, 'That guy right there? He plays some good football.' kinda DUH quality to their commentary. I don't really mind it, but there are one or two things *every* game that I can envision half of America smacking their foreheads due to the duh-ness.
sparky2112
Member
Haven't read it, but it was a very good movie. The kind of movie that reminds you that Michael Douglas is, after all, a pretty darn good actor.
Vic...eh...
she does kind of redeem herself, but you still go most of the book not liking her. I mean, I get that her abilities fucked her up and all...but still.
It did have some truly creepy things in it....it's also the first book I read by Joe Hill that showed me he's an author I want to keep an eye on.
I love his enthusiasm and clearly he loves the game, but so did Madden, and they've both got that, 'That guy right there? He plays some good football.' kinda DUH quality to their commentary. I don't really mind it, but there are one or two things *every* game that I can envision half of America smacking their foreheads due to the duh-ness.
Haha, fair enough on that assessment. His amount of positivity towards every single player (which can amount to a simple comment that "he's just a great football player!") is a running joke in the NFL threads.
Didn't even know it was a movie! Will watch when I finish.
VistraNorrez
Member
Finished:
Bloom: Or, the unwritten memoir of Tennyson Middlebrook by Martin Kee
I got this from a StoryBundle. Really really enjoyed it. There are 2 stories that alternate by chapter. One is an apocalyptic science fiction story while the other is fantasy. They do tie together pretty well. I didn't always like the dialogue in the sci-fi story, it didn't feel natural at times, but it's my only real qualm.
Next:
"Shouldn't You Be in School?" by Lemony Snicket
Bloom: Or, the unwritten memoir of Tennyson Middlebrook by Martin Kee
I got this from a StoryBundle. Really really enjoyed it. There are 2 stories that alternate by chapter. One is an apocalyptic science fiction story while the other is fantasy. They do tie together pretty well. I didn't always like the dialogue in the sci-fi story, it didn't feel natural at times, but it's my only real qualm.
Next:
"Shouldn't You Be in School?" by Lemony Snicket