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[Jintor]

I finally finished this monster.


Working: People Talk About What They Do All Day and How They Feel About What They Do by Studs Terkel

It really is an interesting read, but it varies so much in interest just depending on who's talking and what they do and whether or not that's interesting to you. And there's a goddamn lot of it, too.

Anyway, what with the news about Yamauchi, I figured it was time for a re-read:


Game Over, Press Start to Continue: How Nintendo Conquered the World by David Sheff

Then it's on to Lolita.

 

[Dec]

Reading

 

[Professor Chaos]

I finished Lord of the Flies. It was alright, not quite as chilling as I thought it would be. Perhaps I knew too much about it beforehand which took a bit of the sting out of it had I not known otherwise.

Moving on to one of my favorite writers of all time:

 

[Freyjadour]

Just started Doctor Sleep, not very far but

Spoiler

it certainly doesn't waste any time.

 

[Salvor.Hardin]

Had been meaning to read this for the longest time. I'm about half way through it, and I can't help but feel like GRRM copied a whole lot of this book to create the GoT universe.

I'm sure I'm not the only person to have noticed it. Has he commented on the similarities?

 

[Escape Goat]

Anansi Boys

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Anansi Boys

Loved this. Enjoy.

 

[Tragicomedy]

Is anyone checking out Stephen King's sequel to The Shining? I'm thinking of hitting them in a one-two combo. I've watched the Kubrick adaptation to The Shining but never read the book. Could be good.

Doctor Sleep

 

[Salvor.Hardin]

I'm struggling to think of any similarities, except that both have political intrigue between powerful families.

Spoiler

A political house of relatively modest means moves to a highly contested domain, one which makes the concerned family feel out of place. The head of the house, known for being trust worthy and a natural leader of men, is thrust into a position of power, while his firigid wife and astute son cope with their new surroundings. This leader of men enjoys his position only for a short while before he is betrayed and dies, leaving his family and those loyal to him in disarray, forced to forge external alliances. The son, heir, surprises his mother by his ability to learn the ropes of the trade and becomes a capable leader himself, winning the admiration of those on the fringes.

Like I said, I'm only half way through, so I don't know what lies ahead. But the similarities seem pretty glaring to me.

 

[Leeness]

Is anyone checking out Stephen King's sequel to The Shining? I'm thinking of hitting them in a one-two combo. I've watched the Kubrick adaptation to The Shining but never read the book. Could be good.

Doctor Sleep

!!!!!

I just finished The Shining a couple of weeks ago!

I will finish Misery and postpone IT for this

Oh, and do read The Shining. Similar, and yet entirely different from Kubrick's movie.

 

[Narag]

Is anyone checking out Stephen King's sequel to The Shining? I'm thinking of hitting them in a one-two combo. I've watched the Kubrick adaptation to The Shining but never read the book. Could be good.

Kinda curious but that synopsis put me off.

 

[Akahige]

Finished The Long Day Wanes: A Malayan Trilogy by Anthony Burgess , the setting was well established and engrossing but the characters and the plot line didn't do much for me.

Now Reading:

 

[Mackenzie 92]

Finished this up. Was a lot better than I thought it would be. Was expecting something kinda light and fun, instead got a dark, gory and emotional tale. Not bad. Will definitely check out the sequels at some point.


The Monstrumologist by Rick Yancey

Is anyone checking out Stephen King's sequel to The Shining? I'm thinking of hitting them in a one-two combo. I've watched the Kubrick adaptation to The Shining but never read the book. Could be good.

Like Leeness said the book is quite a bit different than Kubrick's adaptation so it's worth checking out. That said, I wasn't a big fan of it, not really my style.

 

[Prez]

I'm going to read this soon. I also read this recently but forgot to mention it here:

Prez suggested it sometime in June. It was absolutely fantastic and everyone should read it immediately.

I'm very glad that you enjoyed the book. My love for jazz grew immensely after reading it. It really touched me.

In case you're interested, my absolute favorite book is a book about Bud Powell called Dance of the Infidels:

What Charlie Parker was to the saxophone, Bud Powell (1924–1966) was to the piano: No jazz pianist can rival his brilliance. But his life was filled with tragedy, including years of electroshock therapy in psychiatric institutions, illnesses, physical and mental abuse from people who fed him dangerous drugs to control him, and the indifference of his contemporaries to his genius. Francis Paudras, a young jazz fan who met Powell in the late 1950s, released him from his unfavorable surroundings, encouraged him to create some of his finest music, and took care of him as if he were his child. Powell’s story, Dance of the Infidels, is one of the most moving of jazz memoirs—and served as the basis for Bertrand Tavernier’s film ’Round Midnight, starring Dexter Gordon. Here, for the first time in English, is a portrait of a friendship as surprising and heartbreaking as Bud Powell’s timeless music.

I've been in love with the man and his music ever since reading it. Francis Paudras is a great inspiration to me as well. The first chapters are a bit of a drag, but the book doesn't really start until a few chapters in.

'Round Midnight is a great movie btw, but I'm glad I didn't see until after reading the book.

 

[Maklershed]

Finished The Giver this morning. Good setup and liked where it was going but I feel like it was very rushed at the end and ended too abruptly.

When I finished The Giver I was in the mood for something spacey and it was free on Kindle so I picked up Overdraft: Orion Offensive. Looks silly and light but whatever, could end up loving it.


Overdraft: The Orion Offensive by John Jackson Miller

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Finished this up. Was a lot better than I thought it would be. Was expecting something kinda light and fun, instead got a dark, gory and emotional tale. Not bad. Will definitely check out the sequels at some point.

Cool. I've added it to my ever growing list.

 

[Escape Goat]

Loved this. Enjoy.

Is it true its a loosely related to American Gods? I just started the first chapter so keep that in mind

Spoiler

I suspect the main characters father is Wednesday, but I tried not to read too much about it.

 

[Leeness]

Misery!!!

AAAAH AAAAH IT'S NOT LIKE THE MOVIE I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S WORSE OR BETTER

omg this scene and the ending of it are killing me.

 

[Haly]

Is it true its a loosely related to American Gods? I just started the first chapter so keep that in mind

Spoiler

I suspect the main characters father is Wednesday, but I tried not to read too much about it.

There's one side character in American Gods who is a major character in Anansi Boys. And it vaguely alludes to the events of American Gods.

Also if you finished American Gods and are craving more of it, look for the short story titled The Monarch of the Glen, part of the Fragile Things short story collection. It takes place a year or two after American Gods and shows people doing thangs.

 

[Kyleripman]

Misery!!!

AAAAH AAAAH IT'S NOT LIKE THE MOVIE I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S WORSE OR BETTER

omg this scene and the ending of it are killing me.

Love It.

I also just reread The Shining, first time since I was a kid. Started Doctor Sleep today, but too early to have any opinion on it.

 

[Leeness]

Love It.

I also just reread The Shining, first time since I was a kid. Started Doctor Sleep today, but too early to have any opinion on it.

Omggggggggggggg

"Don't worry Paul, I'm a nurse."

 

[ShaneB]

After the disappointment of Love Anthony being a much different book than I was expecting, I'm going to dive into this. I need a nice manly book to cleanse me again. It is nice to have a physical book for a change too.

Now reading (well, I'll start it later tonight)...
The Sisters Brothers

 

[Dec]

I really like having a map when I read mystery and fantasy novels so I made one real fast for The Murder of Roger Akroyd, hope it's useful to someone else.

 

[DouglasteR]

Oh yeah Baby, i read (almost) all Reynold's books, mainly Revelation Space, what a ride, so many awesome characters , heroes, villans, all of them memorable.

Now im reading Hyperion and so far is same tier as revelation space.

Thanks Gaf !

 

[SaskBoy]

About half way through. Last book in the trilogy, so it took me awhile to figure out what was going on since it has been a few years since I read the first two.

 

[Narag]

The Horse and His Boy by C.S. Lewis

Took forever but finally got the ordering sorted out for the final books. Didn't really like this one and I don't know why!

 

[Karakand]

Just picked up If on a Winter's Night a Traveler and Good Omens. Don't really know what to expect with If on a Winter's Night but it was on my goodreads want to read list and gaf's September book so might as well read it.

 

[Haly]

Hahaha

 

[Salvor.Hardin]

For those who have read Banks' Culture series, can I start with any of the books? I've heard a lot about 'Use of Weapons' as it's meant to be his magnum opus, but I don't know if I should jump into it without reading the earlier books.

Advice?

 

[Jag]

Loving the Long Ships. Thank you GAF for recommending this! Never would have found it on my own.

 

[phoenixyz]

Has anybody already read Bleeding Edge? Is it good? Does it work for non-US readers?

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

Is anyone checking out Stephen King's sequel to The Shining? I'm thinking of hitting them in a one-two combo. I've watched the Kubrick adaptation to The Shining but never read the book. Could be good.

Doctor Sleep

Bought it last night. I'm only about 5% in and so far it's been a where are they now. I'm interested to see where he goes with it. I read The Shining about 15 years ago so I know the highlights but some details are hazy and others are getting mixed up with the Kubrick movie. If you haven't read The Shining but saw the movie, you might want to read The Shining first because Doctor Sleep gets spoilery in the beginning.

 

[ShaneB]

The Sisters Brothers is awesome so far. Definitely see myself burning through this quick. Realize how much I wanted to read a western.

 

[Narag]

The Sisters Brothers is awesome so far. Definitely see myself burning through this quick. Realize how much I wanted to read a western.

Kinda wish I'd snagged it when it was a daily deal.

 

[rac]

http://i.imgur.com/8bAQr4i.jpg

amazing

 

[EdreyV]

im currently halfway through this bad boy

 

[remist]

For those who have read Banks' Culture series, can I start with any of the books? I've heard a lot about 'Use of Weapons' as it's meant to be his magnum opus, but I don't know if I should jump into it without reading the earlier books.

Advice?

The Player of Games and Consider Phlebas are good intros, but you won't really miss much just jumping into Use of Weapons.

 

[mu cephei]

For those who have read Banks' Culture series, can I start with any of the books? I've heard a lot about 'Use of Weapons' as it's meant to be his magnum opus, but I don't know if I should jump into it without reading the earlier books.

Advice?

It depends how much you think you'll enjoy them. If it's likely you'll want to read all of them, I think you should definitely start at the beginning and read them in order. Any other way is just messy. But each book is self-contained so I don't suppose it really matters.

If not, then sure, go for the best ones, which in my opinion are Use of Weapons and Player of Games. But Consider Phlebas is a good one to read anyway, as it looks at the Culture from a totally different perspective.

 

[Salvor.Hardin]

The Player of Games and Consider Phlebas are good intros, but you won't really miss much just jumping into Use of Weapons.

It depends how much you think you'll enjoy them. If it's likely you'll want to read all of them, I think you should definitely start at the beginning and read them in order. Any other way is just messy. But each book is self-contained so I don't suppose it really matters.

If not, then sure, go for the best ones, which in my opinion are Use of Weapons and Player of Games. But Consider Phlebas is a good one to read anyway, as it looks at the Culture from a totally different perspective.

Appreciate the replies.

I'm expecting to enjoy them quite a bit. I'm a huge fan of the Foundation series, I'm really enjoying Dune right now, and I'm told this carries on the legacy.

I guess I'll start out with Consider Phlebas. I'm not hugely anal about reading things by order of release, but I don't want to be lost during any part of these books.

 

[Bazza]

For those who have read Banks' Culture series, can I start with any of the books? I've heard a lot about 'Use of Weapons' as it's meant to be his magnum opus, but I don't know if I should jump into it without reading the earlier books.

Advice?

Use of Weapons is great but I suggest starting from the beginning, Consider Phlebas introduces the Culture in an interesting way and Player of Games the 2nd book is great, some people consider it the best but I personally put a few others before it.

 

[Protome]

I used to be a really fast reader and over the years excessive video game playing replaced reading as my primary hobby and i've slowed down a lot.

But I'm really close to the end of Name of the Wind now because I struggle to put it down once I start reading it, damn fine book. Not particularly original. Pretty much everything in it has been done before a lot of times, but it is told fantastically and is just really easy to read. The last books I found this easy to read were the Mistborn trilogy. The first one I walked into one of my university exams still reading because I was 3 pages from the end...

Not decided what I'm going to read next. Maybe the second Fairyland book though.

 

[Kaladin]

Taking a break from The Way of Kings....for some reason that book is tough to get through. It's a lot to try and wrap your head around.

I've really got into NOS4A2 though, the world building is picking up and I like where Joe Hill is going.

In the pile for future reading:

Doctor Sleep - Stephen King
Steelheart - Brandon Sanderson
The Ocean At The End of the Lane - Neil Gaiman

I think I'm set for the year at my pace.

 

[Tragicomedy]

[*] John Scalzi - Old Man's War ★★★ - Didn't live up to the premise for me. Without spoiling anything, I'll just say the book's title is more than a bit misleading. I struggled to relate with the characters, particularly the protagonist who always knows the right thing to do or takes the perfect action in time to save the day. There were half a dozen groan moments for me when Perry would roll in like a white night and solve everything. Okay. I'll give at least the second book a chance to see if it hooks me.

 

[Mackenzie 92]

Started The Sisters Brothers since Shane was talking it up and I'm in the mood for a good western.

 

[Wurst]

I love Brandon Sanderson. And I'm quite jealous of him. He is a master of his craft. He may not be the most poetic but he knows how to build an entertaining novel.

Steelheart is another prime example. The premise is good and he elevates the material by asking the right questions and striking the correct notes. It's also his most fast-paced work.

I'm often not quite satisfied with his character-building but they were quite enjoyable here. The ending is great too. Really enjoyed this read!

 

[Kaladin]

I love Brandon Sanderson. And I'm quite jealous of him. He is a master of his craft. He may not be the most poetic but he knows how to build an entertaining novel.

Steelheart is another prime example. The premise is good and he elevates the material by asking the right questions and striking the correct notes. It's also his most fast-paced work.

I'm often not quite satisfied with his character-building but they were quite enjoyable here. The ending is great too. Really enjoyed this read!

The reviews I've seen for this make me glad I ordered a signed copy when Brandon posted them on his blog. It looks like the start of a good series. It's probably next on my list to read.

 

[Marcovaldo]

Has anybody already read Bleeding Edge? Is it good? Does it work for non-US readers?

what do you mean by "work"? do you mean follow and understand the references? i'm in the uk and though only 5 chapters in i haven't struggled in that regard

 

[Tragicomedy]

Started Steelheart last night and am about a third through it right now. There's a bit of a YA feel to it, but it's still Sanderson and the story is really freaking good so far.

He's a stellar world builder, no question.

 

[Kaladin]

Started Steelheart last night and am about a third through it right now. There's a bit of a YA feel to it, but it's still Sanderson and the story is really freaking good so far.

He's a stellar world builder, no question.

That's why I read Sanderson above any other reason. The worlds he creates leave you wanting to explore even more than the book allows.

 

[Tragicomedy]

That's why I read Sanderson above any other reason. The worlds he creates leave you wanting to explore even more than the book allows.

As ShaneB commented when we were chatting, the dude must keep very detailed Excel spreadsheets or something to that effect to keep all his worlds/stories straight.

According to Sanderson's Goodreads page, he is working on or has completed eight separate series. EIGHT. Most people struggle to crank out a book a year.