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Maklershed · Feb 1, 2011

Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser

February 2011 Book Club Thread
http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?p=25664548#post25664548
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The book club book for March is Stranger in a Strangeland by Robert Heinlen:

Cyan said:
All right ladies and gents, the March Book Club selection is Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert A. Heinlein.

You've got a week to get your hands on the book. Fortunately, it's a whole lot easier to find than Flashman. It's a popular classic and should be available at your local library.

If you want to buy a copy:
Amazon link
Kindle edition

Maklershed · Feb 1, 2011

Currently reading our February 2011 book club book

Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser

Yasser · Feb 1, 2011

not far in at all but already made me laugh a few times, now for the characters and story to develop

Willectro · Feb 1, 2011

Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs - Chuck Klosterman.

On the 4th chapter, pretty decent so far.

David Incorporated Esq. · Feb 1, 2011

I'm doing a stupid thing and reading A Song of Fire and Ice. Why do I have a penchant for reading unfinished mega-series?

joeyjoejoeshabadoo · Feb 1, 2011

Maklershed said:
Currently reading our February 2011 book club book

Flashman by George MacDonald Fraser

Same.

charsace · Feb 1, 2011

Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.

Only read a little bit of it so far. Seems to be a fantasy story about a group of people fighting for their rights.

Eric WK · Feb 1, 2011

About 70 pages in; it's currently meeting the hype and then some.

megashock5 · Feb 1, 2011

Working my way through the first five J. Michael Straczynski Amazing Spider-Man trade paperbacks for a second time.

Guileless · Feb 1, 2011

will52 said:
Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs - Chuck Klosterman.

On the 4th chapter, pretty decent so far.

The chapter deconstructing Saved by the Bell is my favorite.

I am reading A Little White Death by John Lawton. The bargain price and rapturous praise convinced my to give it a go. The back cover quote is that it "weaves the Profumo Affair and the Kim Philby spy scandal into a stylish novel of intrigue and manners spanning the corridors of power and the back alleys of vice, circa 1963." Great idea but the start is very slow, the main character is a complete cipher, and I am close to putting it down about 50 pages in.

Edit: browsing Amazon reviews, people recommend reading the first two books in the "Inspector Troy" series before this one in order to appreciate it.

sparky2112 · Feb 1, 2011

I grabbed this for a long weekend in Cancun because a) Smith is a HUGE David Foster Wallace fan, b) this book had mega hype when it first came out, and c) I've yet to read any of her. Halfway through, and she has done just about as good a Rushdie impression as I've seen anyone do. Fine by me.

And this. Some of these essays I've read before, but magazines tend to chop Wallace to hell and back, so reading the pieces in their original form is wonderful. And OMFG, I'd never read his 2000 profile of John McCain, but did DFW have his finger on this guy way back then. Mindblowing. To paraphrase, 'Warm, engaging, etc., but the media in this country has given this guy a HUGE pass when you actually listen to the shit coming out of his mouth.' And Host, the profile of conservative talk radio is just freakin' the best thing EVER. Seriously.

Leopold · Feb 1, 2011

Quite nice, full of traditional zionist prejudices against the jewish diaspora, though.

sparky2112 · Feb 1, 2011

Leopold said:
Quite nice, full of traditional zionist prejudices against the jewish diaspora, though.

Um, duh?

nakedsushi · Feb 1, 2011

charsace said:
Mistborn by Brandon Sanderson.

Only read a little bit of it so far. Seems to be a fantasy story about a group of people fighting for their rights.

I remember you used play Shadowrun. Mistborn reads like a video game sometimes, especially the magic system and the action scenes. Maybe you'll see some similarities.

coldvein · Feb 1, 2011

starting the book club book today.

Skilletor · Feb 1, 2011

I just finished

I loved it. It took me awhile to warm up to it, but once I did I blew through it. I didn't like the way it ended, but looking forward to Wise Man's Fear.

I'm reading Graham Greene's The Quiet American now. Looking forward to checking out Abercrombie's The Heroes when it drops next week.

the_painted_bird · Feb 1, 2011

Just read

Loved it, love Pynchon.

Now

and these next

/Dream Machines

& http://www.theatlantic.com/magazine/archive/1969/12/as-we-may-think/3881/

Leopold · Feb 1, 2011

sparky2112 said:
Um, duh?

What?

DesertEater · Feb 1, 2011

Started reading Ubik couple of days ago. I'm really enjoying it. It also reminded me a lot of Transmetropolitan.

afternoon delight · Feb 1, 2011

Borges' Collected Fictions because there's too much school work to do.

sparky2112 · Feb 1, 2011

Leopold said:
What?

No, I was just saying that a book called 'The Armed Prophet' would be, I assume, a flattering portrait of Ben-Gurion, and would therefore be VERY Zionist. So my reaction to your initial comment was essentially, 'Well, what did you expect?'

sparky2112 · Feb 1, 2011

afternoon delight said:
Borges' Collected Fictions because there's too much school work to do.

I don't know what the hell is wrong with me. By almost all reports, Borges is life-changing, and while I've head this on my self forever, I've STILL not picked it up. Fear of dashed expectations, perhaps?

Leopold · Feb 1, 2011

Oh, ok.

But it isn't just the portrait, but every galut/religious jewish community is perceived as hopeless. Not unexpected, i know.

Narag · Feb 1, 2011

Currently working on these three

Dragons of Spring Dawning by Margaret Weis

A Game of Thrones by George R.R. Martin

The Black Company by Glen Cook

npm0925 · Feb 1, 2011

Use of Weapons by Iain M. Banks. It's kind of like Star Trek but with more sex and drugs and no prime directive.

MedIC86 · Feb 1, 2011

thomaser · Feb 1, 2011

Jane Austen's Sense and Sensibility. Read it for the first time a little over a year ago. This time it's for school. Didn't enjoy it much the first time... her characters felt so weak, especially the women, that I had a hard time liking them. But all my lit-degree friends, both male and female, are adamant that it's really a very good and funny book. My teacher agrees. So I guess I have to dig deeper this time and find out what's supposedly so good about it. Any ideas?

Stat Flow · Feb 1, 2011

After having a good time with The Angel's Game, I decided to check this out before I re-read The Angel's Game + Shadow of The Wind. I'm only 5 chapters in at the moment, and I like it..

Carlisle · Feb 1, 2011

Never read Murakami before, but my gf is a big fan so I thought I'd give it a try between A Song of Ice and Fire books. So far it's a really fast read (especially coming right out of Game of Thrones). The narrative gives me a Catcher in the Rye/Ordinary People type of vibe as in so far it reads like some guy's detailed daily diary... but it's really well-~~written~~ translated and doesn't feel slow or anything. I think a theme is starting to present itself, and it's starting to get a lot more interesting.

Mifune · Feb 1, 2011

Lethem takes traditional stories and twists them, mutates them, and just generally fucks them up. Some really scary, funny, disturbing, and just plain bizarre stories here. If a tale of a prison made up of literally hardened criminals interests you, then dive in.

I also just started All the Pretty Horses. The first thirty pages are sheer perfection.

Manics · Feb 1, 2011

Wizard and Glass by Stephen King

Rubashov · Feb 1, 2011

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Kindle samples sold me another book.

Large Professor · Feb 1, 2011

About half way through. It's ok.

evilpigking · Feb 1, 2011

Reading Flashman for Book Club and since the pace isn't particularly strenuous, also reading Miles, Mutants, and Microbes (Currently on Falling Free) which will finally see me caught up on all the Vorkosigan omnibuses.

After that not sure, I'll have to hunt down something new to start.

DanDeschain · Feb 1, 2011

Recently finished Boneshaker, Clementine, and The Mystery Knight.
Gonna re-read this in anticipation of the series.

ultron87 · Feb 1, 2011

I've always had a soft spot for the Warhammer 40k universe. And Dan Abnett's books were a big cause of that. Throw giant robots in the mix and I'm there.

Hooray popcorn military sci-fi!

Alucard · Feb 1, 2011

Under the City of Angels by Jerry Earl Brown
Still have over a hundred pages to go. Need to just finish it at this point. I haven't had much time to devote to it, and that has been annoying me. At least I'm almost there. I've enjoyed the ride in spurts. I like the ecological angle that it seems to be taking now.

LocoMrPollock · Feb 1, 2011

ultron87 said:

I have a massive erection.

bud · Feb 1, 2011

plato's the republic. this my first step into the world of philosophy. i'm fascinated.

Pikelet · Feb 1, 2011

I'm reading Murakami's Wind up Bird Chronicle, approximately 200 pages in. So far it is fantastic, and even better than Norwegian Wood in my mind. There is some crazy stuff in this book, highly reccomended.

Erico · Feb 2, 2011

Book of the New Sun by Gene Wolfe.

Finally getting around to reading this series.

Salazar · Feb 2, 2011

Hume's An Enquiry Concerning Human Understanding.
A collection of essays on literary anonymity from the 16th to the 20th century, edited by Robert J. Griffin, The Faces of Anonymity.
F.W. Bateson's The Scholar-Critic.

Horus Heresy books for relaxation.

ismaboof · Feb 2, 2011

Another book for class:

Plus I will be starting this within the week

BrokenFiction · Feb 2, 2011

Oh, it was SO good. Abercrombie gets better with each book. I loved The First Law, adored Best Served Cold, but this one was just amazing.

demon · Feb 2, 2011

what the.... I just posted in the last thread! Since I haven't read anything since then I'm just gonna copy and paste it over, plus one extra...

About to finish:

About to start:

(although I have so many to choose from on my shelf)

About to get from my dad and will spend an eternity reading, but will give it a shot no less:

His copies look pretty much identical and have been sitting on his bookshelf for as long as I can remember. He got it when he was 16, so I guess it's a family heirloom now.....

For the gaf book club. I've had this book for years but never finished it. For some reason I put it down about halfway through back in 2004 and too much time passed to just pick up where I left off. This is good motivation to re-read it though.....it really is pretty damn funny.

Deleted member 17706 · Feb 2, 2011

BrokenFiction said:
Oh, it was SO good. Abercrombie gets better with each book. I loved The First Law, adored Best Served Cold, but this one was just amazing.

Where are you that you were able to procure a copy of this so early?

demon · Feb 2, 2011

Question about Murakami's Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. I recently nagged it at a used book store for 9 bucks, but I just read a review on amazon that the english translation is abridged and missing 15-20% of the original text. Is this true? Anybody's thoughts on this here? That kind of makes me want to not read it on principle.

LocoMrPollock · Feb 2, 2011

Zefah said:
Where are you that you were able to procure a copy of this so early?

Its been on sale online for about 3 weeks.

Deleted member 17706 · Feb 2, 2011

LocoMrPollock said:
Its been on sale online for about 3 weeks.

Argh, you're right!

I guess it's just the Kindle edition that has a February 7th release date. Bastards!

Oh well, I'll wait for the paperback, then. I really like the treatment Abercrombie's paperbacks get. I hope I can find a version that has the proper cover (the one that looks like his other books and has an Axe on it).

LocoMrPollock · Feb 2, 2011

Zefah said:
Argh, you're right!

I guess it's just the Kindle edition that has a February 7th release date. Bastards!

Oh well, I'll wait for the paperback, then. I really like the treatment Abercrombie's paperbacks get. I hope I can find a version that has the proper cover (the one that looks like his other books and has an Axe on it).

This one -

It goes great with the others, unfortunately I have this funky one for The Blade itself-

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