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Maklershed · Sep 1, 2014

Maklershed · Sep 1, 2014

Please make sure to stop by the September Book Club thread owned and operated by GAF's own Cyan!

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=884411&highlight=

The book this month is Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Meditations by Marcus Aurelius

Maklershed · Sep 1, 2014

I'm currently reading Drood by Dan Simmons and it's fantastic.

Drood by Dan Simmons

Haly · Sep 1, 2014

I should try Murakami again, both Wind-Up Bird Chronicles and Kafka on the Shore put me to sleep and I swore him off.

AngmarsKing701 · Sep 1, 2014

Reached the halfway point of Poul Anderson's The Broken Sword and loving it so far.

Mr.Swag · Sep 1, 2014

Finished Gillian Flynns 'Sharp Objects'. Quick read, only about 300 pages liked it about as much as I like Dark Places. After reading her whole bibliography (three books) I can say I love her stories. If you are a fan of HBO's True Detective and it southern gothic themes I extremely recommend at least Sharp Objects and Dark Places. Gone Girl is excellent but its different than her first two novels.

Now to finish Brave New World.

Incandenza · Sep 1, 2014

Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

It's pretty cool so far. Wish I had more time to read it.

ymmv · Sep 1, 2014

Mackenzie 92 · Sep 1, 2014

Almost done with this. Will be kind of sad to finish it because it's so damn good.

The Good Earth by Pearl S. Buck

BlueDogAnchorite · Sep 1, 2014

I'm currently reading The Sandman Omnibus Volume 2. I am at the part where

Delirium wants to find Destruction.

Haly · Sep 1, 2014

Great arc, that. Really helped characterize the Endless and explore the nature of their existence.

GasProblem · Sep 1, 2014

I've been reading asoiaf over a period of like two years. Read 'till Feast, stopped, forgot stuff, re-read Clash and Storms, finished Feast, now 400 pages into Dance. When I finish Dance I'll be letting out a sigh of relief and enjoyment of finally having read all books.

After Dance, it's either Blood Song by Anthony Ryan or Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey. I think I'll be going for Leviathan because I've never read anything sci-fi.

Freeza Under The Shower · Sep 1, 2014

almost done with Mistakes were made, but not by me.
Moving on to Guns, Germs, and Steel after that.

AngmarsKing701 · Sep 1, 2014

Incandenza said:
Tigana by Guy Gavriel Kay

It's pretty cool so far. Wish I had more time to read it.

One of my favorites and a huge influence on my writing. If you enjoy Tigana, try A Song for Arbonne as well.

TestMonkey · Sep 1, 2014

I've only read the first section where they introduce the family and the elder. I like the style and the tone so far. The page long paragraphs are very disorienting though.

B.K. · Sep 1, 2014

Still going slowly through The Guns of August. The first quarter of the book was really rough, but it's starting to pick up now.

thomaser · Sep 1, 2014

Only 50 pages left of Oscar Wilde's Complete Works, which I've been at on and off for over six months. It'll be good to finally put it back on the shelf (it's heavy too, and I drag it around all over the place).

After that, I have no idea, with over 70 unread books to choose from. What do you people think of this random selection? Might be one of them:

- The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao, by Junot Díaz
- Cocaine Nights, by J. G. Ballard
- Little Dorrit, by Charles Dickens
- Middlemarch, by George Eliot
- Pratchett/Baxter: The Long War

BrokenFiction · Sep 1, 2014

Been putting this off forever, now kicking myself I hadn't started sooner.

The Great Gonzales · Sep 1, 2014

Dostoevsky's The Gambler. It's the last work of his I own that I haven't read yet. Also, I bought Wittgenstein's Philosophical Investigations about six months ago and haven't so much as cracked it open, so it's probably time to get started on that.

grandwizard · Sep 1, 2014

41shWIN%2BssL._SY344_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg

After not having read it for 10 years or so.. really not feeling it as much as I once did. It reminds me of this except this time the chosen one can actually see the future. Way to give other people a chance, Herbert!

Easystride · Sep 2, 2014

Saw this on sale on the Kindle store for $1.99, and it caught me eye since I do love long books. I downloaded the sample, and enjoyed it, so I bought it. I haven't read much nonfiction, so I am looking forward to this, especially since I just got into The Beatles' music in the last few months. If I like it, I may have to branch out and read some more nonfiction.

Cheesyhobo · Sep 2, 2014

BrokenFiction said:
Been putting this off forever, now kicking myself I hadn't started sooner.

Yeah, I read Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man in the span of weeks a few months back and ever since then I've had the suspicion that Robin Hobb has ruined the genre for me. Every fantasy novel I've read since, I keep thinking that the characterization and world are nowhere near as vivid as Hobb's. Even in intelligent, emotionally resonant fantasy like Tigana and The Curse of Chalion, the characters just don't live and breathe like Hobb's do.

KidDork · Sep 2, 2014

Still plugging at F. Paul Wilson's The Tomb in all its Eighties awesomeness. The new Star Wars novel is set to arrive this week, so I'd best get a move on.

Moppeh · Sep 2, 2014

I've been taking my time with it for the past week or so. So I'm only about halfway through. Fantastic book, Ebert's nostalgia for his past is so strong that it seems to almost ooze from the pages.

BrokenFiction · Sep 2, 2014

Cheesyhobo said:
Yeah, I read Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man in the span of weeks a few months back and ever since then I've had the suspicion that Robin Hobb has ruined the genre for me. Every fantasy novel I've read since, I keep thinking that the characterization and world are nowhere near as vivid as Hobb's. Even in intelligent, emotionally resonant fantasy like Tigana and The Curse of Chalion, the characters just don't live and breathe like Hobb's do.

I guess that's a burden I'll have to bear. The book is too good to stop now!

Salsa · Sep 2, 2014

starting it today

debated between paperback or audio book tho

Necrovex · Sep 2, 2014

Going to start reading Wizard's First Rule as my main novel of the month. Otherwise I am focusing on a lot of manga like Eyeshield 21, Akira, Buddha, Plato, and 20th Century Boys, along with completing some Marvel Knights comic, ala Black Panther and Inhumans.

John Blade · Sep 2, 2014

Post this from last thread but think its okay on this month reading.

Got this this for about a week and a half ago and already reading to Chapter 3 of Volume 1. Love the show and kinda want to see how much it difference from the novel. Bought the 1st 3 volume of the novel so I will have enough reading for at least a month or so.

Who · Sep 2, 2014

TestMonkey said:
.

Hey me too! I love the characters so far and the philosophical debates they get into are interesting and at times really quite enlightening.. Great book, hope to finish by the end of September..

Mumei · Sep 2, 2014

Cheesyhobo said:
Yeah, I read Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man in the span of weeks a few months back and ever since then I've had the suspicion that Robin Hobb has ruined the genre for me. Every fantasy novel I've read since, I keep thinking that the characterization and world are nowhere near as vivid as Hobb's. Even in intelligent, emotionally resonant fantasy like Tigana and The Curse of Chalion, the characters just don't live and breathe like Hobb's do.

Oh, dear. Well, I may have to hold off on it for a few more months!

BlueDogAnchorite · Sep 2, 2014

Haly said:
Great arc, that. Really helped characterize the Endless and explore the nature of their existence.

Yeah, I'm really enjoying it so far. I've been reading thru The Sandman slowly, just so I don't miss any details. So far it is one of the densest comics I ever read. There's alot of detail to it.

TestMonkey · Sep 2, 2014

Cheesyhobo said:
Yeah, I read Farseer, Liveship Traders and Tawny Man in the span of weeks a few months back and ever since then I've had the suspicion that Robin Hobb has ruined the genre for me. Every fantasy novel I've read since, I keep thinking that the characterization and world are nowhere near as vivid as Hobb's. Even in intelligent, emotionally resonant fantasy like Tigana and The Curse of Chalion, the characters just don't live and breathe like Hobb's do.

I disagree. Hobb takes murderers and attempts to give them hearts of gold. I'll admit that I enjoyed the first two books in the Farseer trilogy and even developed empathy for the characters but then that third book happened and I just wrote off Hobb. I have never seen such a complete and pointless destruction of a character in fiction and the worst part about it is that they just take it on the chin.

zaryn · Sep 2, 2014

I somehow stumbled upon a signed copy of The Bone Clocks by David Mitchell at the Bradley Intl Airport in Hartford, Connecticut of all places. So now I've put NOS4A2 on hold, and started reading that instead.

EverythingShiny · Sep 2, 2014

Finished Pines. I thought it was pretty good. Definitely not what I was expecting toward the end. Looking forward to reading the rest of the series.

Now reading:

Amazing book. I didn't know the word introvert until I was in my early twenties; as a kid/teen I was just "painfully shy". This book has been very eye-opening thus far. I'm learning a lot about myself through this book and it's incredibly well-researched. Highly recommended to fellow introverts (or people who want to understand introverts.)

Edit: OH SHIT, Acceptance comes out tomorrow. Welp, going to be taking a break from Quiet, then!

Nappuccino · Sep 2, 2014

I broke up with my girlfriend, so what else could be better to read right now?

kswiston · Sep 2, 2014

The book is better than the silly caption leads you to believe. It's not groundbreaking or anything, but Brust sets up an interesting fantasy world.

RageWaffles · Sep 2, 2014

Finished WoT #5, The Fires of Heaven, a few days ago.

noooo, Asmodean

I was growing rather fond of him.

Started #6, Lord of Chaos, today.

Sectorseven · Sep 2, 2014

Only about 20 pages in and so far it's way different from the movie. Sticking with it though.

Nappuccino · Sep 2, 2014

Sectorseven said:
Only about 20 pages in and so far it's way different from the movie. Sticking with it though.

I have to say, I liked some elements of the book, but I never really had that good of an experience with it. Hopefully it'll treat you better.

lightus · Sep 2, 2014

Finished up Stoner by John Edward Williams. I enjoyed it, even if I did feel melancholy after every sitting. Definitely going to recommend it to a few people. Thanks for sharing it with me gaf!

Now I'm on to The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss. This is one of those books that I've been hearing about for years. On to page 270 now and really enjoying it so far. I can see some of the complaints with the book but overall it's a fun read.

Jintor · Sep 2, 2014

Terrier: The Legend of Beka Cooper

Terrier by Tamora Pierce

Kinda crappy subtitle and cover aside, this was actually a really good read and I'm surprised it's classified as YA (but maybe I shouldn't be given the popularity of Battle Royale Young Version and various other post-apocolyptia). Sometimes the writing is kind of shonky because it's written from the main character's POV - well, it's her journal - and her vocab kind of sucks, but I think that Tamora herself is probably a pretty great writer. The world she crafts feels really... well, real, for lack of a better term, though it's a little hazy to start out. There's a bit of an overuse of in-story slang and suchlike, but aside from that it's a pretty fun read.

Now reading:

Frankenstein by Mary Shelley

Man, bryonic literature can really irritate sometimes, amazing descriptive capacity aside.

ShaneB · Sep 2, 2014

Still slowly getting through 11/22/63. Really liking it!

Trouble · Sep 2, 2014

A little more than half way through Isaac's Storm by Erik Larson.

It's about the deadliest natural disaster in U.S. history in the form of the hurricane that hit Galveston in 1900. Interesting, but gets a little heartbreaking when it gets to all the death, especially the accounts of how some children died.

obin_gam · Sep 2, 2014

Continuing with Warhammer 40K action pieces of the The Horus Heresy series. Finished Know No Fear yesterday which was OK. The negative thing is that it starred the boring Ultramarines, but it made up for that by having the crazy World Bearers as villains, and with a great set piece of a planet under siege.

and I should really get Scars first, but Unremembered Empire looks so good so I'll just jump to that instead.

Who · Sep 2, 2014

EverythingShiny said:
Now reading:

Amazing book. I didn't know the word introvert until I was in my early twenties; as a kid/teen I was just "painfully shy". This book has been very eye-opening thus far. I'm learning a lot about myself through this book and it's incredibly well-researched. Highly recommended to fellow introverts (or people who want to understand introverts.)

!

Thanks for you review of this and bringing it to my attention! This book sounds very interesting to me.

*added to Amazon wishlist*

Cheesyhobo · Sep 2, 2014

TestMonkey said:
I disagree. Hobb takes murderers and attempts to give them hearts of gold. I'll admit that I enjoyed the first two books in the Farseer trilogy and even developed empathy for the characters but then that third book happened and I just wrote off Hobb. I have never seen such a complete and pointless destruction of a character in fiction and the worst part about it is that they just take it on the chin.

Cyan said:
This almost perfectly describes my own reaction to the Assassin books. I doubt I'll ever read anything else by her.

Honestly I felt like she cheated in that last book to make things harder for her protagonist. Granted that that's better than the reverse, it's still incredibly annoying as a reader.

I could sorta get where you're coming from if you stopped at the end of Assassin's Quest, but the Tawny Man trilogy is absolutely vital for the protagonist's character arc. Farseer is great, but the introspective voice in Tawny Man is truly something special.

cheezcake · Sep 2, 2014

What to start September off with GAF?

Mr.Swag · Sep 2, 2014

cheezcake said:
What to start September off with GAF?

The Sun Also Rises!
Only Hemingway I've read, and it was phenomenal, felt like I jumped into a time machine.

Edit: Reading Joe Hills 'Heart Shaped Box' and I like it enough so far that I'll probably read 'Horns' next..movie for that looks crazy.

Haly · Sep 2, 2014

Ancillary Justice, since the sequel is coming in October.

BriareosGAF · Sep 2, 2014

Just finishing up

I must admit I'm not enjoying this quite as much as his other works. The lack of focus in the narrative, with its treading water as it sort of goes over themes repeatedly. And then the computer bits are just a pet peeve. It's still enjoyable but I was expecting something a little sharper for what seemed to be his most acclaimed work.

I have Kafka on the Shore queued also (hello abebooks order), but may switch to Meditations and try to join the book club. I've been listening to History of Rome with my daughters so the material dovetails.

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