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Maklershed · Dec 1, 2011

Maklershed · Dec 1, 2011

Cyan said:
A secret's worth depends on the people from whom it must be kept.

The Shadow of the Wind by Carlos Ruiz Zafón

Barcelona, 1945: A city slowly heals from its war wounds, and Daniel, an antiquarian book dealer's son who mourns the loss of his mother, finds solace in a mysterious book entitled The Shadow of the Wind, by one Julian Carax. But when he sets out to find the author's other works, he makes a shocking discovery: someone has been systematically destroying every copy of every book Carax has written. In fact, Daniel may have the last of Carax's books in existence. Soon Daniel's seemingly innocent quest opens a door into one of Barcelona's darkest secrets--an epic story of murder, madness, and doomed love.

"Gabriel Garcia Marquez meets Umberto Eco meets Jorge Luis Borges for a sprawling magic show."

Amazon paperback
Kindle edition

Let's read!

Guidelines:
-For maximum fun and discussion, follow the milestones with the group. But feel free to read at your own pace if you prefer!
-If you read ahead and want to drop some knowledge, that's cool--but please use spoiler tags where appropriate! And be sure to indicate how far ahead the spoiler is. [spoiler]text goes here[/spoiler]
-Unspoilered discussion of anything through the latest milestone is allowed and encouraged. If you’re not caught up, read the thread at your own risk!
-Suggestions for the next book club selection are welcome at any time. We'll vote on the next book once we're finished with this one.

Reading Milestones:
Fri, Dec 2 - Ch 1 - 6
Sun, Dec 4 - Ch 7 - 13
Tue, Dec 6 - Ch 14 - 18
Thu, Dec 8 - Ch 19 - 24
Sat, Dec 10 - Ch 25 - 30
Mon, Dec 12 - Ch 31 - 34
Wed, Dec 14 - Ch 35 - 44
Fri, Dec 16 - Ch 1 - 7
Sun, Dec 18 - Ch 8 - 13
Tue, Dec 20 - Fin

Future Book Club Possibilities:
The Name of the Rose by Umberto Eco
Devil In the White City by Erik Larson
If on a winter's night, a traveler by Italo Calvino
[your recommendation here!]

Previous Book Club Threads:
Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West, by Cormac McCarthy (Oct 2011)
The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov (Sep 2011)
The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas (Aug 2011)
Master and Commander, by Patrick O'Brian (July 2011)
The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin (June 2011)
A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan (May 2011)
The Afghan Campaign, by Steven Pressfield (Apr 2011)
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein (Mar 2011)
Flashman, by George MacDonald Fraser (Feb 2011)

December Book Club Thread

Jenga · Dec 1, 2011

I've read nothing

Kraftwerk · Dec 1, 2011

My Last Culture Novel..the last Culture novel

sixteen-bit · Dec 1, 2011

Jenga said:
I've read nothing

Is that any good?

Jenga · Dec 1, 2011

_dementia said:
Is that any good?

pretty overrated

nakedsushi · Dec 1, 2011

I don't have trashy tv to watch so I make do with trashy books. Just in time for the holidays:

Holiday in Death by J.D. Robb

brianjones · Dec 1, 2011

just sstarted this.. love it so far

"He was working hard at increasing his life span. He did it by cultivating boredom."

i'm gonna live forever

J-Roderton · Dec 1, 2011

Just started The Picture of Dorian Gray last night. Pretty cool so far.

ClassyPenguin · Dec 1, 2011

There needs to be an bio-pic of Malraux, such an interesting guy.

Amagon · Dec 1, 2011

Just started on The Hunger Games trilogy. Should be done by the end of the year but I keep on pushing off the Song of Ice & Fire books. I remember started reading the second book, A Clash of Kings back in August but during that time, I was watching the England Riots which took most of my time and interest away from the book. I have the whole set on my desk and they are very intimidating everytime I look at it. Don't know when I'm gonna start that series again but my game plan is, The Hunger Games, 1Q84, then ASOIAF.

BlazingDarkness · Dec 1, 2011

Still reading 1Q84, onto Book 3 now.
I highly recommend it

MoGamesXNA · Dec 1, 2011

I just started reading Asimov's Foundation and Empire last night. I'm really enjoying the Foundation novels at the moment. The political focus is one that differs from a lot of modern sc-fi and that's making for a nice change of pace.

Deified Data · Dec 1, 2011

MikeTyson · Dec 1, 2011

paulo coelho's "the alchemist", then I want to get

THE NO LIFE KING said:
The Hunger Games trilogy

davidnic · Dec 1, 2011

Amagon · Dec 1, 2011

MikeTyson said:
paulo coelho's "the alchemist", then I want to get

Great fucking book!!! My friend recommended it and I pass the word to my other friends to read it.

MikeTyson · Dec 1, 2011

THE NO LIFE KING said:
Great fucking book!!! My friend recommended it and I pass the word to my other friends to read it.

Oh it's such an enjoyable read. Just the boy's journey and interaction with the people make me want to transplant it into my life. I'm more then halfway through it.

Luthos · Dec 1, 2011

A Clash of Kings. And this is my first time reading these books. I'm about 450 pages in.

I've been slowly getting back into reading. But I might be the slowest reader on the planet. I don't know if it's just these ASoIaF books, but it seems I read like a half a page per minute. I end up reading like 30-35 pages or so in an hour. Maybe it's this type of book, but it seems I read slow just to soak up all the info, or I spend a few seconds or so to try to remember who this person is supposed to be (that he just name dropped).

survivor · Dec 1, 2011

The Sisters Brothers

About 50 pages into the book. Anyone on GAF read it before? What should I expect?

HamPster PamPster · Dec 1, 2011

I just picked up Infinity Blade: Awakening by Brandon Sanderson

I can't play either game but I do love the premise of the book and just saw it posted in the Infinity Blade II thread

Trained from birth in swordplay and combat, a young knight named Siris has journeyed to the Dark Citadel with a single purpose: fight through the army of Titans to face the tyrannical God King in one-on-one combat. This was his father’s sacred mission, and his father’s before him, going back countless generations in an effort to free their people from enslavement. But when Siris somehow succeeds where all those from his bloodline previously have failed, he finds himself cast into a much larger world, filled with warriors and thieves, ancient feuds and shifting alliances, Deathless immortals and would-be kings.

I like the idea of someone returning from a suicide mission. Curious to see how the story turns out

Never read anything by Brandon Sanderson before. What would you say is his best work? If I like the writing style in this I'll probably seek out some of his other work. Lots of interesting premises (eating metal for magic?) that might make some good reads

bengraven · Dec 1, 2011

My Kindle2 died!

It's out of warranty and I'm pretty sure it's my own fault. I stood on the corner of it by accident and now that corner's screen is frozen.

YET Amazon is still going to send me a Kindle Touch for just $40 with free 2-day shipping and not requiring me to send my Kindle back. How awesome is that?

thomaser · Dec 1, 2011

Right now, dipping into Shakespeare's "Hamlet". Otherwise, just revising for an exam.

Pynchon's "Against the Day" is on pause, almost done. Will pick it up again in a week or two and finish it. Just read two plays: "Pygmalion" by George Bernard Shaw, and "A Midsummer Night's Dream" by Shakespeare. Both pretty funny, especially the play within the play in the latter.

T.M. MacReady · Dec 1, 2011

This:

and also this when i want something dumb/lighthearted instead:

Verdre · Dec 1, 2011

Finished Marilyn Monroe - My Story today.

It was really interesting, though it's unfinished and ends just as she was about to go on stage in Korea to entertain the troops. It definitely cemented my opinion that she was crazy. She constantly talks about how Norma Jean felt this or that and said she was always late because she was giving Norma Jean treats.

A couple quotes:

..This sad, bitter child who grew up too fast is hardly ever out of my heart. With success all around me, I can still feel her frightened eyes looking out of mine. She keeps saying, "I never lived, I never loved," and often I get confused and think it's I who am saying it.

About wanting to have a daughter and how she'd raise her:

But chiefly, no lies! No lies about there being Santa Claus or about the world being full of noble and honorable people all eager to help each other and do good to each other. I'll tell her there are honor and goodness in the world, the same as there are diamonds and radium.

Fjordson · Dec 1, 2011

Kicking off the Vorkosigan series. It's actually really good. I was wary since I've run into some bad space opera in the past, but this is pretty different from all that.

bengraven said:
My Kindle2 died!

It's out of warranty and I'm pretty sure it's my own fault. I stood on the corner of it by accident and now that corner's screen is frozen.

YET Amazon is still going to send me a Kindle Touch for just $40 with free 2-day shipping and not requiring me to send my Kindle back. How awesome is that?

Damn, that's dope. <3 Amazon.

subversus · Dec 1, 2011

Deified Data said:

just finished it.

I can't describe how good it was. His style is too baroque but I heard he sped it up a bit in Iron Council.

now onto:

planar1280 · Dec 1, 2011

All tintin books (Again) from start to end. Should be done by end of December

Dresden · Dec 1, 2011

bujold only gets better from there imo.

Finished Underground by Haruki Murakami. It was a reread and the one thing that I found startling was how much of a weeaboo that I'd become since the first time I read the book. It was a rather unpleasant realization.

Started two books:

Haven't gotten too far into it but it's a rather humorous novel about Jewish Issues. I suppose it'll get angsty later on.

I couldn't stand Kraken and I never finished The City & The City, so hopefully this will be a return to his usual, weird-as-fuck standard. I like the premise, though.

Goody · Dec 2, 2011

survivor said:
The Sisters Brothers

About 50 pages into the book. Anyone on GAF read it before? What should I expect?

Very good. Nothing amazing, but it's very strong. Absolutely worth your time if you enjoy a good adventure with comedy and violence. Comparable to something by Portis.

Also, I'm not sure if I really dig the book I'm reading now: Never Die, by Barry Hannah. Oddly enough, also a Western. I've got a few pages to go, there are definitely many strengths to this novella, but as a whole, I'm not so sure.

Mumei · Dec 2, 2011

Cyan said:
Fuck yea. You're in for some awesome shit.

It's pretty awesome stuff.

Anyway, for me:

I have been continuing Pale Fire and reading it rather slowly. I tend to take longer with Nabokov. I am about fifty pages out now.

I also picked up a book called Why Kids Can't Read: What Teachers Can Do. As someone who wasn't taught 'how to read' (by that I mean, the processes by which the reader makes a text meaningful by being actively engaged with it and making inferences, connecting it to things one already knows, making predictions based on what they have read and revising those predictions, rereading things that one doesn't understand the first time, etc.; I was obviously taught how to read in the sense of sounding out words and whatnot) and sort of... fell into those habits somehow in a process I don't really remember, I found the subject of readers who never really figured out how that is done and methods of teaching independent reading to be pretty interesting. There are some pretty interesting anecdotes, as well, about the perspective of what the author calls dependent readers (readers who don't know how to figure out a text and depend upon someone else to tell them what the text said):

Dependent readers often fail to see reading as an active process. As Gene, a twelfth grader, said, "What do you mean active? You sit. You stare. You turn pages. What's active about that?" I asked him what he thought good readers did while reading. He responded, "Do? I don't know. They just read it. And then they answer all the questions. That's what makes them good readers, because they can answer all the questions."

"So why do you think they can answer all the questions?" I asked.

"I don't know. Why do some people win the lottery? Why are some people always invited to the really popular parties? Why did Gore really lose the election? There are just some things we aren't supposed to know the answer. It's just the way things are."

Gene's response, sadly, offers an explanation many dependent readers support: "It's just the way things are." In part, that attitude develops as struggling readers watch some students in class move easily (and apparently effortlessly) through a text. They only see the outward signs of comprehension - peers correctly answering questions. What they don't observe are all the times good readers reread a passage or a sentence, all the times they ask themselves, "What's going on here?" They don't hear that internal dialogue a good reader has with the text or with herself while reading."

Anyway, it's definitely an interesting subject. Possibly moreso for me because I'm not a teacher and I didn't know most of this stuff, though I imagine it could be very useful for teachers.

Sleepy · Dec 2, 2011

Dresden said:
I couldn't stand Kraken and I never finished The City & The City, so hopefully this will be a return to his usual, weird-as-fuck standard. I like the premise, though.

I liked Kraken, even if I did fall asleep while reading it on multiple occasions, but I should kneecap you for not finishing The City & The City. It's one of the best books I've ever read.

Loved The Scar, too. Even if it dragged in places. I didn't read Perdido Street Station before I read The Scar, so the full weight of the world/backstory didn't really hit me.

Almost done with The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. It was much better than I thought it would be.

Rubashov · Dec 2, 2011

I hope I can finally finish this book this month. It's a real monster. I'm enjoying it.

lcd604 · Dec 3, 2011

I just finished reading this book. It's an easy to read economics book with non-technical language and a quick read, being only slightly over 100 pages. The book is similar to the recent best seller Freakonomics , in the sense it examines several interesting economics topics that affect every day life, however, Taking Economics Seriously examines more "serious" issues.

One of the more interesting topics covered is the idea of regulations in market places and how the mainstream public confuses the debate between more or less regulation, rather the debate should be on who benefits from regulations. The author examines patent laws and how it allows pharmaceutical companies to gain large profits due to protected monopolies. The argument goes that we need to offer patents and large profits that come more monopolies to stimulate innovation.

However the goal of patent laws in drug manufacturing is to stimulate innovation, but protected monopolies is not the only way to foster innovation. The author suggests that it is possible to expand already publicly funded research institutions such as The National Institute of Health or outsource the research to universities and other research firms - all this funded with public tax payer dollars. Any medical break throughs and drug discoveries will be public domain so cheap generics can be developed and competition can further drive down prices.

Governments would save a fortune in Medicare costs, insurance companies would charge lower premiums and the general public will benefit from cheaper drugs. The author estimates it would cost $30 billion to replicate private pharmaceutical research , while the cost savings can be greater then $200 billion.

It's a very interesting idea and makes the wheels turn in the old noggin - what other regulations are slanted in favour of corporations? I have a more detailed review of Taking Economics Seriously on my blog Which Investments !?

luiztfc · Dec 3, 2011

What's the best Warhammer book to start reading? I've always wanted to read, but never know the best one to start. Thanks.

Milchjon · Dec 3, 2011

Just finished:

Took me more than two months. Quite the experience.

Then I read this:

Took me less than 2 days. Not a great book, but it really helped putting the act of reading Infinite Jest into perspective.

Salazar · Dec 3, 2011

luiztfc said:
What's the best Warhammer book to start reading? I've always wanted to read, but never know the best one to start. Thanks.

Do you mean fantasy Warhammer or the 40K (Space Marine) kind ?

Really, the latter should be what you read. It is, for mysterious reasons, enormously superior to the fantasy books they publish.

This is my stock recommendation. Exposes you to a bunch of different authors, styles, races.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1844163423/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Anything by Dan Abnett is good. Eisenhorn and Ravenor, in particular. His "Gaunt's Ghosts" series is amazing. The vast majority of the omnibuses (Space Wolves, Ultramarines) are great. The Horus Heresy is magnificent, but I understand that people can find it complicated if they haven't read much about how the universe works before beginning it.

HarryHengst · Dec 3, 2011

To start the reading for my masters thesis. :lol

It's a pretty cool book though, written by a philosopher who looks at videogames using theory and methods of aesthetics.

Monocle · Dec 3, 2011

A bit of Shakespeare (King Henry IV Pt. 1, Hamlet), and this:

Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland

I'm just past the first chapter and one thing that's impressed me is the pacing. The author has a knack for sketching dense historical panoramas, homing in for fine rendering when called for, and snapping back out again. I've never read a more cogent summary of the fall of the brothers Gracchi.

Salazar · Dec 3, 2011

Monocle said:
I'm just past the first chapter and one thing that's impressed me is the pacing. The author has a knack for sketching dense historical panoramas, homing in for fine rendering when called for, and snapping back out again. I've never read a more cogent summary of the fall of the brothers Gracchi.

It is tremendous. Holland's fiction is garbage, but Rubicon, Persian Fire, and Millennium are outstanding pieces of reputable popular history. Robin Lane Fox's first book on Alexander compares, with the distinction that Fox is a ghastly wanker and Holland is not.

I went and saw him speak a couple of years ago, about Millennium, and he was very good. He was at a difficult stage in researching the history of Islam that is due out next year. Not that I suppose there is ever a terrifically easy stage in dealing respectably with Islam as a topic.

Fuzzy · Dec 3, 2011

I finally took the time to start it after reading the first one right after it aired on HBO. Depending on how much time I have I'll probably start the third one by the new year.

Prentice · Dec 3, 2011

luiztfc · Dec 3, 2011

Salazar said:
Do you mean fantasy Warhammer or the 40K (Space Marine) kind ?

Really, the latter should be what you read. It is, for mysterious reasons, enormously superior to the fantasy books they publish.

This is my stock recommendation. Exposes you to a bunch of different authors, styles, races.

http://www.amazon.com/dp/1844163423/?tag=neogaf0e-20

Anything by Dan Abnett is good. Eisenhorn and Ravenor, in particular. His "Gaunt's Ghosts" series is amazing. The vast majority of the omnibuses (Space Wolves, Ultramarines) are great. The Horus Heresy is magnificent, but I understand that people can find it complicated if they haven't read much about how the universe works before beginning it.

Thanks. I didn't even know there was a distinction between Fantasy Warhammer and 40K and I'm now reading about it. I'll try the book you recommended, thatnks again!

Monocle · Dec 3, 2011

Salazar said:
It is tremendous. Holland's fiction is garbage, but Rubicon, Persian Fire, and Millennium are outstanding pieces of reputable popular history. Robin Lane Fox's first book on Alexander compares, with the distinction that Fox is a ghastly wanker and Holland is not.

I went and saw him speak a couple of years ago, about Millennium, and he was very good. He was at a difficult stage in researching the history of Islam that is due out next year. Not that I suppose there is ever a terrifically easy stage in dealing respectably with Islam as a topic.

Good stuff. I'll be sure to check out the other works you mentioned.

demon · Dec 3, 2011

Currently still reading From Socrates to Sartre: The Philosophic Quest. Unless I decide to read a short novel inbetween, my next book will actually be:

Monocle said:
Rubicon: The Last Years of the Roman Republic by Tom Holland

I'm just past the first chapter and one thing that's impressed me is the pacing. The author has a knack for sketching dense historical panoramas, homing in for fine rendering when called for, and snapping back out again. I've never read a more cogent summary of the fall of the brothers Gracchi.

..which should be arriving on Monday. So it's nice to hear positive impressions.

Monocle · Dec 4, 2011

demon said:
Currently still reading From Socrates to Sartre: The Philosophic Quest. Unless I decide to read a short novel inbetween, my next book will actually be:

..which should be arriving on Monday. So it's nice to hear positive impressions.

I'm several more chapters in and it's only grown better.

wrowa · Dec 4, 2011

I want to read something by Philip K Dick, but the question is: which book? Help?

DesertEater · Dec 4, 2011

wrowa said:
I want to read something by Philip K Dick, but the question is: which book? Help?

The only book I've read was Ubik. Its pretty short, but I enjoyed it a lot.

Maklershed · Dec 4, 2011

wrowa said:
I want to read something by Philip K Dick, but the question is: which book? Help?

My favorite = Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep

revolverjgw · Dec 4, 2011

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