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What are you reading? (October 2014)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
H.Protagonist
[-_-]/
Cheers, Maklershed!
which is great and reminds me of the better works of William Gibson.
Hmmm... I see this one in stores a lot and I'm always half interested, but I remember thinking the premise sounded depressingly typical (robots/engineered girls for playthings abandoned or rescued, etc.)(eh). Is it actually worth picking up? You mentioned Gibson, who I do really like...
I like to read a lot of books at once so... just depends on my mood. This last week I've been working through:
1. Hitler's Table Talk. Transcripts of AH's dinner conversations with his circle. English translation, the German is too big a pain to get here in the States.
2. Leviathan Wakes. My friend wanted me to read this. I've read through the prologue, seems interesting but I'm too early to give opinions.
3. All Quiet on the Western Front. Original German language edition. Also picked up its audiobook so I can continue "reading" while shaving, driving or exercising.
4. Ficciones. Spanish edition. Jorge Luis Borges is my favorite author in the Spanish language and this is my favorite of his works.
5. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland. I had Valente recommended to me as an example of excellent modern English writing skill. She really is quite good too.
1. Hitler's Table Talk. Transcripts of AH's dinner conversations with his circle. English translation, the German is too big a pain to get here in the States.
2. Leviathan Wakes. My friend wanted me to read this. I've read through the prologue, seems interesting but I'm too early to give opinions.
3. All Quiet on the Western Front. Original German language edition. Also picked up its audiobook so I can continue "reading" while shaving, driving or exercising.
4. Ficciones. Spanish edition. Jorge Luis Borges is my favorite author in the Spanish language and this is my favorite of his works.
5. The Girl Who Circumnavigated Fairyland. I had Valente recommended to me as an example of excellent modern English writing skill. She really is quite good too.
Gave up on The Brothers Karamazon on like page 235 or something... I'll try it again when I'm older and wiser haha..
Just finished this absolutely incredible book:
And working through this. Very fascinating and insightful, I fucking love learning about the unexplained quirks of the phenomena that is our human conscious:
And am going to start this again after leaving it alone for so long:
Just finished this absolutely incredible book:
And working through this. Very fascinating and insightful, I fucking love learning about the unexplained quirks of the phenomena that is our human conscious:
And am going to start this again after leaving it alone for so long:
I made it about 40% into Why We Get Fat, but I found it a real chore to read and some of the arguments seemed suspect to me. Out of curiosity, I looked up some of the reviews and realized the book champions a low-carb diet -- so, I'm out.
Started 11/22/63 based on someone's suggestion here. I'm about 35 pages in and it's not grabbing me yet. I'm also worried it's over 700 pages. I'm going to continue it for a little while -- hopefully it picks up.
Started 11/22/63 based on someone's suggestion here. I'm about 35 pages in and it's not grabbing me yet. I'm also worried it's over 700 pages. I'm going to continue it for a little while -- hopefully it picks up.
Elfforkusu
Member
Hey, this is neat! Thanks!
As for what I'm reading,
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus by Charles Mann. Narrative non-fiction. Fascinating read so far.
Unlearning everything I thought I knew about "Native" Americans.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Wasn't really digging Tunnel in the Sky, by Heinlein. It read like Brady Bunch gets standed in space in space. So then I started up Snow Crash, but I didn't like the tone of it.
So not sure what to start next. Might dip into some fantasy with Promise of Blood.
So not sure what to start next. Might dip into some fantasy with Promise of Blood.
Just finished this absolutely incredible book:
Considering my love of survival stories, and how much I loved the movie 'Alive', this is probably a book I should read, so thanks for the reminder about this! Not to mention the Krakauer quote right on there.
Finished up Gruden's book this morning, good fun read.
I think I'll start this next. Since I loved The Child Thief so much, makes sense to check out his other stuff.
Red Winter by Dan Smith
nakedsushi
Member
Eh, it was only ok. It was depressing, but that's not what I disliked about it. I thought it was pretty cliched. You hit the nail on the head about it being about engineered girls for playthings. Nothing really surprising or new. The setting was kind of cool, but can only carry the book so far. I think it would have worked well as a short story, but as an actual book, I was bored by it. Not as in depth as Gibson.
I just finished:
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
It was really nice. Not something I typically read and when I did start reading it last week, I realized I had started it and put it down in the past. I'm glad I finished it though, because the ending was great! Has anyone seen the movie? Worth watching or not?
TheKaeptain
Banned
I just finished:
The Painted Veil by W. Somerset Maugham
It was really nice. Not something I typically read and when I did start reading it last week, I realized I had started it and put it down in the past. I'm glad I finished it though, because the ending was great! Has anyone seen the movie? Worth watching or not?
First Maugham?
H.Protagonist
[-_-]/
Ah, gotcha. Figured as much. I really hate that cliche. It's been done enough that it really seems like a fetish or a pointless character, in that they don't exist for themselves and are defined by other people or only become people when liberated, which is kind of the same. Plot devices to be used by men, rescued by men, and made human by men. Yuck. Oh, well. I did think the setting was kind of interesting too, but that's, as you say, not enough to carry a book.
Nappuccino
Member
Making some progress here. I'm about 3/4 in and about every other story has been pretty good. No one could claim that Ben Stroud doesn't challenge himself as a writer, but all the various historical settings don't exactly feel unique to their locale. They just feel more formal than the rest of his writing and i guess that's mean to be "history." And that formality just means they all kinda feel the same. I wish that he put a little more work into the style and details to make these places come to life because the stories he is telling are, generally, worth reading. It's just a shame that they aren't as unique as they could be.I feel like his madness, while interesting, isn't enough to read about in depth. Most of it works best as anecdotes and inspiration for his writing.
Also, I've been reading this to review for class
I've finished three of the stories and only one was pretty good. I'm a bit disappointed since it is clear Stroud can write when he wants to. However, his use of place seems a bit lacking (sure, his stories have had a range of several 100 years of time, but the writing voice doesn't make anything interesting of it). Then we have his endings to his stories which . . . are a bit lacking. They just kind of end and not in an open-ended artistic way . . . just kinda like he was done telling the story so it ended.
I'll keep on trucking (I mean, I have to review it as a whole), but ever time it grabs me, it pushes me back out just a few pages later.
It's also rather telling that the best story so far has just been about a modern-day boy fishing with this basically-absent parents. It's a simple story that digs into the boy's personality and mindset extremely well, which oddly enough makes it stand out even though it could be one of the more "normal" stories in the collection. It's kind of funny how that works.
IDKAboutThat
Member
Syphon Filter
Member
looking into reading the art of war.
H.Protagonist
[-_-]/
It's so sad. To know you're going down that road with eyes wide open...
I love his stuff and wish this wasn't happening to him. To anyone, really, but for a writer with such a clever mind... It's absolutely tragic.
SniperHunter
Banned
Just finished reading:
Really captivating story. The story of his life at the camp is absolutely shocking, but what he goes through after his escape is even worse. Really great story
Reading now:
Part 2 of the strain novels. I am liking it way more than the first book. The second season of the show might be a lot better
interesting book on the brain
^ great book if you want to get into body building
^just read one chapter, seems great so far
Really captivating story. The story of his life at the camp is absolutely shocking, but what he goes through after his escape is even worse. Really great story
Reading now:
Part 2 of the strain novels. I am liking it way more than the first book. The second season of the show might be a lot better
interesting book on the brain
^ great book if you want to get into body building
^just read one chapter, seems great so far
i'm gona pick this up - thanks
I haven't made one of these posts in awhile~
Finished:
The Golem and the Jinni is fantastic, though I thought it seemed a bit rushed as it moved towards its conclusion. I didn't stop loving it because of it, but it did move it out of the "omg one of my favorite books eveeeer" lane, at least for me.
Inferno is one of those books that makes you hate the world and everything in it, and wish terrible things upon the people who enable and profit from the horrifying things it details. Read it if you want to feel angry and despondent.
A Room Of One's Own is wonderful. I particularly loved Woolf's prose. It's beautifully expressive, and I'm surprised I don't see her mentioned more often in lists of best prose stylists in English literature. Or maybe I'm reading the wrong lists. In any case, I'm looking forward to reading more of her. I have The Waves and To The Lighthouse, so I'll probably read one of those when I revisit her.
I think I already talked about Wolf in White Van and Hair Story, but they were both great, if I didn't.
Currently Reading:
I'm nearly done with Dickinson! I'm going to be deeply insecure about my ability to read poetry for a long time after reading this book, but it's been a worthwhile experience nonetheless. Dickinson might well be my favorite poet, and Vendler's commentary has added enormously to my appreciation of her.
Japanese Visual Culture is fascinating because of the way that it connects manga and anime to much older cultural roots in Japan going back to the pre-Meiji era. For instance, I just finished a chapter about the development of shojo manga, that talks about the development of "shojo" as a distinct social identity that only really developed in the post-Meiji era, and that "shonen" used to be used as a gender neutral term, and the distinct identity of "shojo" arose as a category for justifying the privileging of boys over girls in the new educational system. It's really interesting, because normally the sort of thing you read about the artistic and cultural influences of early manga tends to focus on Western influences, whether Western comics or Disney cartoons. I'm sure later chapters will also address those influences, but it's interesting to read analysis of manga that situates it as something that grew out of existing cultural and artistic trends in Japan.
Finished:
The Golem and the Jinni is fantastic, though I thought it seemed a bit rushed as it moved towards its conclusion. I didn't stop loving it because of it, but it did move it out of the "omg one of my favorite books eveeeer" lane, at least for me.
Inferno is one of those books that makes you hate the world and everything in it, and wish terrible things upon the people who enable and profit from the horrifying things it details. Read it if you want to feel angry and despondent.
A Room Of One's Own is wonderful. I particularly loved Woolf's prose. It's beautifully expressive, and I'm surprised I don't see her mentioned more often in lists of best prose stylists in English literature. Or maybe I'm reading the wrong lists. In any case, I'm looking forward to reading more of her. I have The Waves and To The Lighthouse, so I'll probably read one of those when I revisit her.
I think I already talked about Wolf in White Van and Hair Story, but they were both great, if I didn't.
Currently Reading:
I'm nearly done with Dickinson! I'm going to be deeply insecure about my ability to read poetry for a long time after reading this book, but it's been a worthwhile experience nonetheless. Dickinson might well be my favorite poet, and Vendler's commentary has added enormously to my appreciation of her.
Japanese Visual Culture is fascinating because of the way that it connects manga and anime to much older cultural roots in Japan going back to the pre-Meiji era. For instance, I just finished a chapter about the development of shojo manga, that talks about the development of "shojo" as a distinct social identity that only really developed in the post-Meiji era, and that "shonen" used to be used as a gender neutral term, and the distinct identity of "shojo" arose as a category for justifying the privileging of boys over girls in the new educational system. It's really interesting, because normally the sort of thing you read about the artistic and cultural influences of early manga tends to focus on Western influences, whether Western comics or Disney cartoons. I'm sure later chapters will also address those influences, but it's interesting to read analysis of manga that situates it as something that grew out of existing cultural and artistic trends in Japan.
Just finished Kress's Probability triology. I really enjoyed it, even though it sort of meanders its way around the various plots and subplots. The Worlders, a quasi-human race with a shared reality mechanism that makes it impossible to lie to each other, are a nice addition to the genre's aliens. Well thought out, interesting, with their own culture. The human-oriented side of the story, and the war with the Fallers tends to be less interesting than the characters and the Worlders.
Next I believe I will be reading an Edwardian diary for research purposes.
Really hits home how devastating Alzheimer's can be.
Delicious Waffles
Member
The Name of the Wind.
So far, so good, I guess.
So far, so good, I guess.
Researching what? Or rather, for what purposes?
sparky2112
Member
Reminds me of one of my all-time favorite quotes: 'I like my life like my coffee and beer - dark and bitter.'
I read To the Lighthouse couple weeks ago and loved it. I thought this short novel would be a good introduction to Woolf, but it turned out that I jumped in at the deep end. Woolf's prose is dense, complex, and stunning, as it sifts through interior lives using a stream of consciousness style.
I'll post some more thoughts when I do a similar roundup of my reading.
SniperHunter
Banned
Whats the best book on the siege of Stalingrad? I remember Shawn Elliot (Games for windows live fame) talking about a great book that describes cannibalism that happened within the city while it was surrounded by Nazis. Anyone know the name off hand?
My nanowrimo novel, which is entitled A Gentleman's Abecedary of Hell.
sparky2112
Member
Well, your title is a fantastic start (alhough I had to look up 'abecedary').
Mine is called BOLT, I think.
Head of Vengarl
Banned
Listening to The Count of Monte Cristo on audiobook.
24 hours in, 23 hours left. LOL. It is an absolutely fantastic novel, but holy shit the length is exhausting. I've taken some breaks from it for multiple weeks, but thankfully it is a very easy story to put down and pick back up.
24 hours in, 23 hours left. LOL. It is an absolutely fantastic novel, but holy shit the length is exhausting. I've taken some breaks from it for multiple weeks, but thankfully it is a very easy story to put down and pick back up.
And it will be an actual abecedary.
A is for Abacinate
B is for Battue
C is for Cosmotellurian
D is for Demonarchy
E is for Emphyteusis
F is for Fossor
etc...
I'm early on I Am Malala, but I'm really liking it. I can really relate to her father's struggle of having a nasty stuttering problem.
Pretty sophisticated title you have here! The pleb in me cried reading it.
When I read The Count of Monte Cristo, I was in high school, one who hated reading...I devoured the text in Cristo. I really need to reread it in the near future.
Pretty sophisticated title you have here! The pleb in me cried reading it.
When I read The Count of Monte Cristo, I was in high school, one who hated reading...I devoured the text in Cristo. I really need to reread it in the near future.
Plasticine
Member
I guess I should probably mention my self-publishing efforts. I wrote Live Undead and a couple other books.
Maklershed
Member
Added!
Conkersbadfurday
Member
The Vorpal Blade which is a trashy sci fi novel by John Ringo and Travis S Taylor. It's fun, but kinda stupid at points. Also poorly edited because Baen don't care.
Also listening to Dr Sleep by Stephen King at work, which has been very fun, though nowhere near as good as The Shining
Also listening to Dr Sleep by Stephen King at work, which has been very fun, though nowhere near as good as The Shining
That's high praise for a John Ringo book!
Blasted through The Rhesus Chart over the last week or so. Latest by Charles Stross in his Laundry series of James Bond meets Dirk Gently meets Cthulu meets Cryptonomicon meets meets meets. I enjoyed it quite a lot. Dude has some bad habits when it comes to self-indulgent jokes but the series is a lot of fun.
Picked up Wool last night, figured I'd read the first... novella? book? entry? before diving in on the whole omnibus thing. Anyway stayed up late and the thing straight through. I loved it, it's restrained and simple, doesn't really beat you over the head about it. Lets the thing breathe. Definitely going to read the rest of it.
Picked up Wool last night, figured I'd read the first... novella? book? entry? before diving in on the whole omnibus thing. Anyway stayed up late and the thing straight through. I loved it, it's restrained and simple, doesn't really beat you over the head about it. Lets the thing breathe. Definitely going to read the rest of it.
Raising Steam (Terry Prachett)
I'm glad to see my initial impressions - while still to my mind quite valid - weren't the be all and end all for this book, as when the plot (such as it is) finally gets up to speed it still proves to be that most Discworld-y of books, something that makes you think, thrill, and wonder about a working fantasy universe where dwarves and trolls exist but still have to carve out a living and interact and so on. Unfortunately getting to that point is a bit different to how we're used to doing things. PTerry has usually struck me as a rather more... well, not sedate, but a relatively subtle author who usually lets the story flow before whatever bits of social commentary he tends to include, which tend to be enhanced by this process. But here, I felt he was being far blunter, fast-paced and regrettably on-the-nose about things. Though he's written about large-scale social developments on the Disc before, it's never quite felt this rushed or this... well, on rails. Things like the Banking sector, the development of the Watch, the Clacks and the Post Office; they all felt like they served the story first, and the tech second. This feels the other way around.
It's his condition, I'm afraid. Thankfully he still has a good grasp of... well, he can still deliver a devastating line with skill, and the characters are all rather consistent, and h e's popping in cameos left right and center; and, most of all, the book is still funny and observant and gloriously engrossing to read. I enjoyed it more than Snuff, truth be told, and perhaps more than Unseen Academicals. But it's clear as day it's a new era of Discworld now - or perhaps the end of one - both in-world and out of it. It's not the same style of writing I fell in love with all those years ago. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but, well... it's not the same anymore.
I'm glad to see my initial impressions - while still to my mind quite valid - weren't the be all and end all for this book, as when the plot (such as it is) finally gets up to speed it still proves to be that most Discworld-y of books, something that makes you think, thrill, and wonder about a working fantasy universe where dwarves and trolls exist but still have to carve out a living and interact and so on. Unfortunately getting to that point is a bit different to how we're used to doing things. PTerry has usually struck me as a rather more... well, not sedate, but a relatively subtle author who usually lets the story flow before whatever bits of social commentary he tends to include, which tend to be enhanced by this process. But here, I felt he was being far blunter, fast-paced and regrettably on-the-nose about things. Though he's written about large-scale social developments on the Disc before, it's never quite felt this rushed or this... well, on rails. Things like the Banking sector, the development of the Watch, the Clacks and the Post Office; they all felt like they served the story first, and the tech second. This feels the other way around.
It's his condition, I'm afraid. Thankfully he still has a good grasp of... well, he can still deliver a devastating line with skill, and the characters are all rather consistent, and h e's popping in cameos left right and center; and, most of all, the book is still funny and observant and gloriously engrossing to read. I enjoyed it more than Snuff, truth be told, and perhaps more than Unseen Academicals. But it's clear as day it's a new era of Discworld now - or perhaps the end of one - both in-world and out of it. It's not the same style of writing I fell in love with all those years ago. And that's not necessarily a bad thing, but, well... it's not the same anymore.
Finished An Autumn War (Book 3 of Long Price Quartet), and damn Daniel Abraham is good. 6th book of his I've read this year (including James SA Corey books). Will put fantasy on hold for a few books now. Reading The hundred year old who climbed out of the window and disappeared right now (in the original Swedish version), and it's a lot darker than I expected in parts. Really mixes the crazy/funny parts with the dark (and not only dark humor). Not sure if it does it well just yet, it does stand out though.
Rambaldi47
Banned
Almost finished Gillian Flynn's 'Gone Girl'.
I think this is the first book I have ever read where I've pretty much hated every single character. Pretty impressive stuff. Good book.
I think this is the first book I have ever read where I've pretty much hated every single character. Pretty impressive stuff. Good book.
Arsenic Yellow
Member
This final thesis year has ruined my 50 movies/50 books plans, as I'm taking only research based courses and reading tons of philosophy. Currently reading Heart Shaped Box by Joe Hill and just started Camera Lucida by Barthes.
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
I finished Walden.
I like Thoreau. He doesn't foist anything on you, or make any judgments. He's just like, "Hey look, I did this little experiment, it was pretty great. Now read my journal that's full of jokes and illusions."
I didn't care for him in high school but I think if you take a chapter out of context you lose the setup Thoreau has constructed. His calm tone, the way his prose flows, his subtle humor. Great stuff.
I like Thoreau. He doesn't foist anything on you, or make any judgments. He's just like, "Hey look, I did this little experiment, it was pretty great. Now read my journal that's full of jokes and illusions."
I didn't care for him in high school but I think if you take a chapter out of context you lose the setup Thoreau has constructed. His calm tone, the way his prose flows, his subtle humor. Great stuff.