Support NeoGAF

[Mumei]

Sure, just go here and start one for yourself: http://www.goodreads.com/challenges/2

Thanks. I was browsing around and didn't see where it was. I'm going to try to do 20 books for the rest of the year.

 

[Maklershed]

80 books in a year? shit, my goal is 20.

Ditto. I think nakedsushi even yelled at me via Goodreads for setting my bar too low.

I think I'm at 17 of 20 right now. In my defense I pretty much only read on the bus and I've been reading kind of longish books this year.

 

[Karakand]

Impressive! But can you keep up that rate for the rest of the year?

HOPEfully...

 

[Mumei]

I purchased some books and manga recently:

Mushishi (Vol 1, 3, 4, 5, 7)
Soulless
A Wizard of Earthsea
Siddhartha
Conan the Barbarian (original stories by Howard)
The Complete Fairy Tales (George MacDonald)

When I finish The Count of Monte Cristo (which I am late in finishing, as I was supposed to be done today; only 40 pages left, however), I will be reading Soulless next.

I set a goal of 25 books for the year. According to Goodreads, I have read 5, although since Goodreads doesn't count books I reread, it won't be counting Monte Cristo, ASoIaF, and a couple others that I read earlier in the year. I've got my work cut out for me.

 

[charlemagne]

Goodreads doesn't count books I reread

That's silly.

 

[Yasser]

still infinite jest, though in my defence i went on holiday for almost 4 weeks and got no reading done. i'm liking it a lot, more as i get further along but at times i really don't like how it makes me feel

 

[Henke]

I hate to be one of those guys, but I'm having some coffee in Waterstones and I'm hoping to pick up some science fiction while I'm here. Can anyone recommend me a good entry level introduction that isn't to abstract for me to enjoy. I don't read a lot, so it's highly unlikely I'll have gotten to any recommendations already. Ta.

 

[Salazar]

Peter F. Hamilton's Night's Dawn trilogy would be a good one.

Wish I were having coffee in Waterstones. Or Blackwells.

 

[beelzebozo]

THE ADVANCED GENIUS THEORY

Advancement is a cultural condition in which an Advanced individual--i.e., a true genius--creates a piece of art that 99 percent of the population perceives to be bad. However, this is not because the work itself is flawed; this is because most consumers are not Advanced.

Now, don't assume this means that everything terrible is awesome, or vice versa; that contrarianism has no place in Advancement theory. The key to Advancement is that Advanced artists a) do not do what is expected of them but also b) do not do the opposite of what is expected of them. If an artist does the direct opposite of what is anticipated, he is classified as "overt" (more on this later). The bottom line is this: When a genius does something that appears idiotic, it does not necessarily mean he suddenly sucks. What it might mean is that he's doing something you cannot understand, because he has Advanced beyond you.

 

[Henke]

They have salsa renditions of Coldplay on the stereo, you're better off wherever you are.

 

[ultron87]

I finished Ready Player One over the weekend:

It's like Snow Crash, but with significantly less long examinations into Sumerian myth and linguistics.

If you love/know about 80s movies, video games, and pop culture in general you'll appreciate it way more.

It's a nice light fun read. Was a good way to close out the summer.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

still infinite jest, though in my defence i went on holiday for almost 4 weeks and got no reading done. i'm liking it a lot, more as i get further along but at times i really don't like how it makes me feel

It's a... difficult read that's for sure. I'm certainly glad I read it though to see what all the fuss is about.

 

[Granger Danger]

I hate to be one of those guys, but I'm having some coffee in Waterstones and I'm hoping to pick up some science fiction while I'm here. Can anyone recommend me a good entry level introduction that isn't to abstract for me to enjoy. I don't read a lot, so it's highly unlikely I'll have gotten to any recommendations already. Ta.

 

[nakedsushi]

I finished Ready Player One over the weekend:

It's like Snow Crash, but with significantly less long examinations into Sumerian myth and linguistics.

If you love/know about 80s movies, video games, and pop culture in general you'll appreciate it way more.

It's a nice light fun read. Was a good way to close out the summer.

That's a good way of describing it. Unfortunately, I don't think Cline is as a good a writer as Stephenson. There was too much 'telling' and not 'showing'. I enjoyed the book, but if you took out all the 80s references, you end up with a cliched and poorly written near-future sci-fi novel with not that much good sci.

Speaking of enjoyable but cliched books, I finished last night:


Naked in Death by J.D. Robb

It was my first JD Robb (Nora Roberts) book and for an illogical reason, I always looked on her books with disdain. So I came into this book with low expectations, but found it as enjoyable as other books of that type (mystery with a touch of romance) that I've read. The main character also isn't annoying, so I'll probably read some more in the series when I want some light reading.

Now, onto Monte Cristo.

 

[Kunohara]

Finished the 2nd Dune book a couple of days ago, and am now reading the 3rd (Children of Dune).

I didn't really like the 2nd one. Not much happened, and to be honest, it was hard to follow the book sometimes, especially when Paul was talking about his prescience and visions.

Children right now is also meh. I think I just want to read more about the universe, and the tech in it and whatnot. I'll keep reading, and hopefully it picks up.

 

[Mumei]

That's silly.

Well they could be counted if I changed the date read - but I want the date read to be accurate for when I first read them, not when I most recently read them.

I finished The Count of Monte Cristo and I've started Soulless now.

 

[British Monsoon]

Not an amazing book, but I really enjoyed it. It was a Gaffer's recommendation too, but I cant' find my old thread. Thanks whoever you are!

That may have been me - I think I described it here as 'the very definition of a page turner' and thought it was just a wonderfully entertaining adventure with a good cast of characters. I enjoyed the follow-up too, The Black Lung Captain, and was pleased to find that it managed to keep that fast paced adventure vibe while simultaneously exploring deeper into the back-story of the crew.

 

[Henke]

Cheers for the help, lads. I'll be bookmarking this page to come back to.

 

[KidDork]

Got tired of seeing that 78 % done mark on A Visit From The Goon Squad, so I put down Soulless last night and went and finished the damn thing.

The last chapter was my favourite, and not just because it meant I was almost done.

Spoiler

Egan shifts genres towards science fiction, and it really wasn't bad.

I was just clearly not the target audience for this book. At all.

 

[Mumei]

Got tired of seeing that 78 % done mark on A Visit From The Goon Squad, so I put down Soulless last night and went and finished the damn thing.

The last chapter was my favourite, and not just because it meant I was almost done.

Spoiler

Egan shifts genres towards science fiction, and it really wasn't bad.

I was just clearly not the target audience for this book. At all.

How are you liking Soulless so far?

 

[Monroeski]

Looks like I'm at about 37 books so far this year.

Anyway, just finished:

Just started:

 

[Fanboydestroyer]

Reading "Neverwhere" pretty enjoyable read. Not sure what I want to read next.

Revelation Space trilogy
V by Pynchon
Against the Day
A Fire Upon the Deep
Kafka on the Shore

Those are the books I'm considering. And I have no experience w/Pynchon. Was thinking V, but heard AtD was easier/more accesible.

 

[FnordChan]

Those are the books I'm considering. And I have no experience w/Pynchon. Was thinking V, but heard AtD was easier/more accesible.

I also have no experience with Pynchon and can't help you there. However, I'm a great fan of A Fire Upon The Deep, which is tremendously entertaining neo-Space Opera and well deserving of it's Hugo award. So, if you don't get started with Pynchon, perhaps give Mr. Vinge's novel a shot.

FnordChan

 

[Ashes]

THE ADVANCED GENIUS THEORY

That sounds like bull shitter 101. Is that an academic text? I'd really appreciate a gaffer's view on this.

 

[KidDork]

How are you liking Soulless so far?

I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I like Carringer's take on what creates monsters in her world, I like the Austenian feel to the characters which serves as a fun contrast to a world where vampires and werewolves are commonplace, and I like the way she keeps the plot moving along.

It's like as if Jane Austen and Jim Butcher got drunk one weekend and decided to write a book.

 

[beelzebozo]

That sounds like bull shitter 101. Is that an academic text? I'd really appreciate a gaffer's view on this.

it is totally not an academic text. i would say that the foreword by chuck klosterman should be a good indication of its seriousness, or lack thereof. it's just cheeky. that said, i appreciate the concept because it so favors the artist rather than the fan; that kind of switch is a healthy perspective for a fan to adopt, i think.

 

[Sonicbug]

First off, this is a lot larger than I thought it would be. Almost 400 pages long of regular sized text. I estimate it’s going to take me longer to read it then it took me to beat the game last time I played through it.

I’ve only read the first forty pages so far and it’s good. The extrapolated world the author of the book creates is pretty interesting. I’ve yet to see how badly it’ll mesh with the expanded universe events that Shadow of the Colossus kinda put into place.

 

[JORMBO]

Just got The Omen Machine by Terry Goodkind. Can't wait to start!

 

[LocoMrPollock]

Gift from a friend. He kept insisting that I read it since "they fucked up the movie so badly."

The man is right. Great book.

 

[Ashes]

it is totally not an academic text. i would say that the foreword by chuck klosterman should be a good indication of its seriousness, or lack thereof. it's just cheeky. that said, i appreciate the concept because it so favors the artist rather than the fan; that kind of switch is a healthy perspective for a fan to adopt, i think.

Nice to hear. Cheers.

I would really appreciate your review on this if you find the time to finish it...

 

[Mumei]

I'm enjoying it quite a bit. I like Carringer's take on what creates monsters in her world, I like the Austenian feel to the characters which serves as a fun contrast to a world where vampires and werewolves are commonplace, and I like the way she keeps the plot moving along.

It's like as if Jane Austen and Jim Butcher got drunk one weekend and decided to write a book.

Good to hear! I like how Alexia is a decidedly anti-19th century female protagonist in that sort of universe. It creates very humorous moments. I heard from a friend that there is a prominent female character in the next book who wears pants. How scandalous!

I'm looking forward to it.

That said, I just finished Soulless this morning and I hadn't purchased the next book yet, so I have instead started on Herman Hesse's Siddhartha.

 

[Dresden]

One of the best novels I've ever read. So absofuckinglutely amazing. I'd heard very good things about the author but this surpassed every expectation I had. Masterpiece.

 

[NEOPARADIGM]

Dope.

 

[Guileless]

Got tired of seeing that 78 % done mark on A Visit From The Goon Squad, so I put down Soulless last night and went and finished the damn thing.

The last chapter was my favourite, and not just because it meant I was almost done.

Spoiler

Egan shifts genres towards science fiction, and it really wasn't bad.

I was just clearly not the target audience for this book. At all.

I'm guessing you believe the target audience to be older baby boomer types?

Only my backlog and the impending start of football is making me resist Ready Player One. I can hold out until I have some giftcards.

 

[beelzebozo]

Nice to hear. Cheers.

I would really appreciate your review on this if you find the time to finish it...

i'll definitely be finishing it. i'm 40-some odd percent of the way through. it's a fun, breezy read, as i said. i would recommend EATING THE DINOSAUR and SEX DRUGS AND COCO PUFFS by klosterman if you're into pop culture writing that can actually be fairly cerebral at times.

 

[rando14]

Very interesting so far, about 150 pages in.

 

[beelzebozo]

thought this link would be worth sharing here.

mario vargas llosa's nobel laureate acceptance speech, "in praise of reading and fiction"

some choice bits

"Literature is a false representation of life that nevertheless helps us to understand life better, to orient ourselves in the labyrinth where we are born, pass by, and die.

It compensates for the reverses and frustrations real life inflicts on us, and because of it we can decipher, at least partially, the hieroglyphic that existence tends to be for the great majority of human beings, principally those of us who generate more doubts than certainties and confess our perplexity before subjects like transcendence, individual and collective destiny, the soul, the sense or senselessness of history, the to and fro of rational knowledge."

I have always been fascinated to imagine the uncertain circumstance in which our ancestors – still barely different from animals, the language that allowed them to communicate with one another just recently born – in caves, around fires, on nights seething with the menace of lightning bolts, thunder claps, and growling beasts, began to invent and tell stories. That was the crucial moment in our destiny, because in those circles of primitive beings held by the voice and fantasy of the storyteller, civilization began, the long passage that gradually would humanize us and lead us to invent the autonomous individual, then disengage him from the tribe, devise science, the arts, law, freedom, and to scrutinize the innermost recesses of nature, the human body, space, and travel to the stars. Those tales, fables, myths, legends that resounded for the first time like new music before listeners intimidated by the mysteries and perils of a world where everything was unknown and dangerous, must have been a cool bath, a quiet pool for those spirits always on the alert, for whom existing meant barely eating, taking shelter from the elements, killing, and fornicating. From the time they began to dream collectively, to share their dreams, instigated by storytellers, they ceased to be tied to the treadmill of survival, a vortex of brutalizing tasks, and their life became dream, pleasure, fantasy, and a revolutionary plan: to break out of confinement and change and improve, a struggle to appease the desires and ambitions that stirred imagined lives in them, and the curiosity to clear away the mysteries that filled their surroundings.

 

[psykomyko]

Just finished:

Incredible book, powerful and sad ending.


Reading now:

 

[Ezalc]

Just finished The Count of Monte Cristo. Easily one of my favorite books now especially considering that I haven't read many. Moving on to Treasure Island.

 

[Tenck]

Join www.goodreads.com and join the NeoGAF Group.


GAF Recommends!
History Books
Sci-Fi and Fantasy Books
Post-apocalpytic Books
Books of 2010
Forgotten Sci-Fi Novels
Lengthy Books
Space Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Fantasy Books
Summer Reading
Dresden's Favorite Sci-Fi and Fantasy
Sci-Fi Novel Series
Modern Fantasy and Hidden Gems
Must Read Books That Came Out in the Past 10 Years
Fantasy Recommendations

I've been asking Gaf to recommend me books and this is just at my disposal?

F**k, how could I have missed this!!! I guess I'm too damn lazy to search around.

Thanks to the OP for showing me the light!

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

Currently reading Dune Messiah.

Less than halfway through, but I'm getting a weird "The Lost Chapters of Dune" vibe and not a real self-contained novel. Still entertaining, but "reads" differently than the original. Seems much faster-paced and more to the point. I don't know.

 

[joshlee]

Just finished:

Incredible book, powerful and sad ending.


Reading now:

Have you read The Manchurian Candidate? Seems like it'd be up your ally, I really enjoyed it.

 

[PhoncipleBone]

Taking a break from A Song of Ice and Fire. I went through the first three and need a break.

Just finishing this up:

Not bad, but nowhere near as good as Game Over by David Sheff. And the inaccuracies in this are bugging me, along with the structure of some of the chapters. There is a lot of neat information in here, but it does leave much to be desired.

Next up is this, which arrived a few weeks ago:

Limited edition version showed up. It is the final book in the series (kind of), so I am excited.

 

[nakedsushi]

Just finished another in this series:


Glory in Death by J.D. Robb

It was as good as the first book. I hope the misogynist serial killer isn't going to be a recurring theme in the rest of the books. I do like the touch of sci-fi she puts in it with all the futuristic weapons, jets, and gadgets though. I'll probably take a break from them for now just for a change of pace.

 

[Mumei]

I finished Siddhartha today. Really enjoyable, though I had trouble identifying with Siddhartha's thought process and how he came to the conclusions he did. There were some parts that were really emotionally affecting for me, though.

I've started on Gulliver's Travel's, and I just read the letter from Captain Gulliver to his cousin and the letter from the publisher to the reader. I'm looking forward to the rest.

 

[Soakedjunk]

After watching Kevin Mitnick on Twit (triangulation) yesterday I decided to pick up

I only just started it, but what a fascinating story!

 

[psykomyko]

Have you read The Manchurian Candidate? Seems like it'd be up your ally, I really enjoyed it.

I haven't. I haven't seen the film either, I will check the book out, thanks!

 

[The Lamonster]

Slowly going through GRRM's A Storm of Swords this month. So fucking good

 

[Woody Invincible]

Just finishing this up:

Not bad, but nowhere near as good as Game Over by David Sheff. And the inaccuracies in this are bugging me, along with the structure of some of the chapters. There is a lot of neat information in here, but it does leave much to be desired.

Yeah, I keep a copy of Game Over in my desk at work. Always a great read.

 

[thetechkid]