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[Nezumi]

I just finished this

a couple of day ago. I pretty much liked it, but to be honest I'm such a Pratchett fangirl, this guy couldn't write anything I wouldn't love. Nevertheless the book had a few points that, even if it didn't make the book bad in anyway, stroke me a little bit odd.
First of there is the fact that Snuff focused like 90% on Vimes. Well, he is a badass character for sure, so that isn't an actual bad thing, but it somehow felt a bit ... I don't know. Normally a Pratchett novel consists of a series of storylines which are more or less intertwined. Like the other citywatch novels, which usually focus on the different members of the watch. I missed all those characters a bit here.
Second problem is that the made such a big leap in time since the last citywatch novel (Thud). Normally there was at least storywise never much more than a year between the novels but here suddenly nearly five years have past. Which wouldn't be bad if it wouldn't put Vimes to be possibly somewhere around sixty and it makes it hard to imagine a sixty year old doing all that asskicking. But maybe I'm just underestimating sixty year olds here.
Apart from those things the book is solid Pratchett material. I just hope I won't be the last one we ever get to read, considering his condition.

 

[brianjones]

my first faulkner

gotta admit, i'm struggling with this a bit

having a hard time figuring out what is going on half the time and who all the characters are supposed to be

 

[thomaser]

I hope to start 120 Days of Sodom later this week.

I have only read one of Sade's books, "Philosophy in the Boudoir", and it's one too many. It's just filth - one sexual fantasy after another, and most of them are about drinking bodily liquids and stuffing all the holes of increasingly younger girls. And then make the girl put something in her mother's ass. And perhaps mix in a dog or two. His books basically seem like today's worst hardcore porn, except drawn out to the extreme. I couldn't find anything good about the book at all, but it is of course interesting in terms of sexual history. And the cover was good.

 

[Salazar]

Yeah.

De Sade reads to me like a moralising demonstration of how amazingly tedious sex, and perversity, can get.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

Now I want to read De Sade for the depravity and filth.

 

[thomaser]

I can enjoy some good-quality filth, but that book was just stupid.

 

[Keen]

Finished White Night and now onto Small Favor. Dresden Files binge continuing.

 

[Neffarias_Bredd]

Anyone have any tips for getting into the Malazan books? I have Gardens of the Moon and tried to read it a few times, but every time I couldn't get passed the first quarter of the book. Shits frustrating

 

[Westraid]

Finished Kafka on the Shore, by Haruki Murakami.
I returned it to the library and got Sputnik Sweetheart, but I'm not sure if I'll read beyond the 2 chapters I read so far.

I enjoyed reading Kafka but I feel like I've missed out on a boatload because I suppose I'm just too dumb to get all the methaphors and hidden riddles. It leaves me unsatisfied after I've read the final page. If it's a typical Murakami thing, I better go read something more 'clear' rather than keep frustrating myself.

 

[Keen]

Anyone have any tips for getting into the Malazan books? I have Gardens of the Moon and tried to read it a few times, but every time I couldn't get passed the first quarter of the book. Shits frustrating

Skip GotM and go directly to Deadhouse Gates, you won't miss that much of importance (at least nothing critical) and if you like DG you can always go back to GotM later.

 

[gcubed]

cuz of Kindle book sale

just started this as well due to the kindle sale

 

[Blatz]

Finished this early Feb.

Then

Read all three this month and now I'm on

I would recommend all of these. I know about the Hunger Games hate on here and I don't' give a crap. They are fun, easy reads and I'm looking forward to the movies.

That said, Scott Lynch and Joe Abercrombie are way better writers. Two of my faves, along with GRRM.

 

[sparky2112]

Anyone have any tips for getting into the Malazan books? I have Gardens of the Moon and tried to read it a few times, but every time I couldn't get passed the first quarter of the book. Shits frustrating

You know, so many people (including me) have serious issues with GotM (particularly the beginning), it's a wonder Erikson doesn't rewrite at least a portion of it. It does his whole series a bit of a disservice, I think, and at the very least he's lost a fair number of readers because it's so rough...

 

[Neffarias_Bredd]

You know, so many people (including me) have serious issues with GotM (particularly the beginning), it's a wonder Erikson doesn't rewrite at least a portion of it. It does his whole series a bit of a disservice, I think, and at the very least he's lost a fair number of readers because it's so rough...

soooooo skip to Deadhouse Gates like the guy above said?

 

[beelzebozo]

if he had not died in 2008, tuesday would have been david foster wallace's 50th birthday.

here is a list from the awl of "46 things to read and see for david foster wallace's 50th birthday"

http://www.theawl.com/2012/02/46-things-to-read-and-see-for-david-foster-wallaces-50th-birthday

 

[kruis]

Finished The Little Stranger yesterday. Good book but it felt like much ado about nothing considering the number of pages and what actually happens. Just like The Turn of the Screw it's a good book to discuss, because so much is left unspoken and unexplained.

Now reading:

 

[Tapiozona]

Interesting books. Enjoyed the first but it was very different than most of the fantasy I read. So little descriptive fluff and the plot moved so quickly. A nice change. On book 2 now..

 

[Hypereides]

Only read the dustjacket so far. Havent had time to read, but its suppose to be good.

 

[DanDeschain]

Just started.

 

[belvedere]

Just finished the Mortal Engines quartet.

Overall pretty damn memorable, despite some predictability.

 

[Alucard]

Starting up The Remains of the Day by Kazuo Ishiguro

Great choice! One of the most well-written books I've ever read, with a captivating and unreliable narrator.

I've got less than 100 pages left in Forever Peace.

I've been interested the whole way through, despite occassionally feeling a little lost in trying to understand what a nanoforge is, or how the "jacking" works. The back-and-forth narration keep things interesting.

 

[Melhisedek]

Finally on the final book of the series. Can't wait to see how it ends. 3,300,026 words total. Damn that's a lot. And of course once Esslemont finishes up his part I'll reread the whole thing over again.

I asked this before but got no answer, in short is it worth it? I've had my eyes on this series for a long time but waited until they are finished (same with A Song of Ice and Fire I'll wait until it is done) but have heard some mixed opinions on this one

 

[Fjordson]

I asked this before but got no answer, in short is it worth it? I've had my eyes on this series for a long time but waited until they are finished (same with A Song of Ice and Fire I'll wait until it is done) but have heard some mixed opinions on this one

I found the series to be sort of boring. It's got an interesting enough world, and the scope is the definition of epic, but the characters were never too interesting to me. Gave up after two and a half books.

But that's just me. I know people who really love it *shrug*

 

[Keen]

I asked this before but got no answer, in short is it worth it? I've had my eyes on this series for a long time but waited until they are finished (same with A Song of Ice and Fire I'll wait until it is done) but have heard some mixed opinions on this one

I would probably read the second book, Deadhouse Gates, and then decide. Lots of people seem to struggle with Gardens of the Moon (I liked it, but it is quite different in tone from the rest and it was written 7 or 10 years prior to Deadhouse Gates).

But yeah, I like the series quite a lot. The man can write epic like few others. You can always (mostly) count on a HUGE payoff, and lots and lots of interesting stuff going on along the way.
His world building and backstory is, imo, second to none.

So, as stated above, try Deadhouse Gates, which is generally considered to be among the best in the series, and in the genre, and if you don't like that, don't go on.

 

[Mumei]

Started reading Racism Without Racists: Color-Blind Racism and the Persistence of Racial Inequality in the United States and The Color of Magic. Enjoying both.

 

[Nezumi]

I started this last night.

I'm really surprised how much I'm enjoying it. Read a few other things from Gaiman so far but I never could quite understand all the praise he gets... but this book could be what changes my opinion.

 

[Mumei]

I started this last night.

I'm really surprised how much I'm enjoying it. Read a few other things from Gaiman so far but I never could quite understand all the praise he gets... but this book could be what changes my opinion.

What else have you tried?

 

[Typhoon_Ex]

Just got a Kindle and the first book I got was "The Wretched of the Earth" by Franz Fanon. Heard very good things about it.

 

[Nezumi]

What else have you tried?

I read The Graveyard Book, which though it was not actually bad just didn't do anything for me. I read most of the Sandman-Series which was sometimes stunningly good but also sometimes downright boring (IMO). Finally I started Good Omens like three times and never finished it. I couldn't really say why, because the whole premise of the book is totally my thing and I love Terry Pratchett, so I concluded that it must be the Gaiman part of the book which didn't work for me.

 

[Fjordson]

I think I am going to finally read Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance. It's been sitting on my shelf for almost a year now. I just love the premise: set on Earth in the distant future, a small remnant of humanity lives on in a crumbling post-apocalyptic society under a weak and dying sun (also the moon is long gone and magic has become synonymous with science). Should be good

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

if he had not died in 2008, tuesday would have been david foster wallace's 50th birthday.

here is a list from the awl of "46 things to read and see for david foster wallace's 50th birthday"

http://www.theawl.com/2012/02/46-things-to-read-and-see-for-david-foster-wallaces-50th-birthday

Instead of my usual anti-David Foster Wallace rant, I'll just point out that technically, this list contains WAY more than 46 things to read.

 

[sparky2112]

Instead of my usual anti-David Foster Wallace rant,

Don't know that I've ever read one of these, but thank you for sparing us.

 

[JGS]

Finished Ender's Game. Time to go back to free Kindle books and read 20,000 Leagues Under the Sea.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

Don't know that I've ever read one of these, but thank you for sparing us.

Well I've posted them in previous reading threads, so I figure that I've already said my piece.

I will say that DFW is one of those rare cases where not only can I not see any quality in his writing, I can't even see the qualities that OTHER people seem to identify in him. So that's new, I guess.

 

[beelzebozo]

Well I've posted them in previous reading threads, so I figure that I've already said my piece.

I will say that DFW is one of those rare cases where not only can I not see any quality in his writing, I can't even see the qualities that OTHER people seem to identify in him. So that's new, I guess.

you are insane and very wrong. i will not budge on this.

read closer.

 

[nakedsushi]

I think I am going to finally read Tales of the Dying Earth by Jack Vance. It's been sitting on my shelf for almost a year now. I just love the premise: set on Earth in the distant future, a small remnant of humanity lives on in a crumbling post-apocalyptic society under a weak and dying sun (also the moon is long gone and magic has become synonymous with science). Should be good

I'm interested to hear what you think of the book. It's been on my 'to-read' list for a while too but I just haven't gotten around to it yet.

I finished a type of book I don't generally read last night:


Bringing Up Bebe: One American Mother Discovers the Wisdom of French Parenting by Pamela Druckerman

It was part chick-lit, part parenting book. I enjoyed it okay for what it was. It does confirm my theory that American parents are DOING IT WRONG.

 

[Dresden]

Read this last night:

Came out in 2005, so all the pieces re: technology is quaint, outdated, set in a time when the iphone was a rumor and people still shopped at circuit city. Also if you get bloggers to write a book you're just going to get a book of blog-entries. The premise of the collection seemed to be that reading itself wasn't going to die, it was going to flourish, insert web buzzword here, etc. But in the end, it has no solutions, just a lot of navel-gazing from bloggers talking about how in the summer of 2001 they put up their website and yadda yadda yadda, as if no one had known, even in 2004~2005, that bloggers existed.

That was the first half; the second half was better, more interesting, various pieces on hipster-talk (although I guess that'd be outdated too), the death of gay-lit, China, etc. Of course this was also when The Believer was New and Awesome, so i dunno.

Half of it was a pure waste of time. The other half was somewhat enlightening.

I think I'll finally get to 1Q84.

 

[Guileless]

I showed the Sunday Times review of that parenting book to my special lady, and she did not agree with the French philosophy. There's a NYT review today but I haven't read it yet.

 

[Dresden]

I've been meaning to read Vance for a while, but never managed to figure out a starting point.

Tales is a great place to start, as an omnibus collection and all that.

Everyone should track down his short story, The Moon Moth, though.

 

[Jamieee]

I read The Graveyard Book, which though it was not actually bad just didn't do anything for me. I read most of the Sandman-Series which was sometimes stunningly good but also sometimes downright boring (IMO). Finally I started Good Omens like three times and never finished it. I couldn't really say why, because the whole premise of the book is totally my thing and I love Terry Pratchett, so I concluded that it must be the Gaiman part of the book which didn't work for me.

I thought American Gods was crap and stopped after 100 pages, which I really don't like doing with books.

You should read Stardust - excellent book. My GF loved it, and she doesn't read many books (also, she enjoyed Neverwhere but I haven't read that myself).

Finished with Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep (don't know why it took this long to start!), and am currently reading:

Liking it so far, and the only thing that gives away the time it was written is when Ish is thinking about

Spoiler

living like a king with the 'negroes' serving him.

Quite surprised when it said that, but I suppose that is because it was written 60 years ago.

 

[sparky2112]

I will say that DFW is one of those rare cases where not only can I not see any quality in his writing, I can't even see the qualities that OTHER people seem to identify in him. So that's new, I guess.

Holy creepin' I-don't-even-know-where-to-begin. Okay, forget the fiction, maybe (although that in itself would be borderline criminal). His 'tics', by and large are less pervasive in his nonfiction. If you're into sports, read his Federer piece. Politics, read Up, Simba! or Host. Film, his David Lynch piece. Porn, Little Red Son. ANY of those will easily convey his brilliance.

 

[Sleepy]

Holy creepin' I-don't-even-know-where-to-begin. Okay, forget the fiction, maybe (although that in itself would be borderline criminal). His 'tics', by and large are less pervasive in his nonfiction. If you're into sports, read his Federer piece. Politics, read Up, Simba! or Host. Film, his David Lynch piece. Porn, Little Red Son. ANY of those will easily convey his brilliance.

Love the David Lynch piece. And Wallace explaining the piece on the Charlie Rose show was very interesting.

 

[Zalasta]

I asked this before but got no answer, in short is it worth it? I've had my eyes on this series for a long time but waited until they are finished (same with A Song of Ice and Fire I'll wait until it is done) but have heard some mixed opinions on this one

I just finished The Crippled God this week (took me a little over a year to read through the series). It's not perfect by any means, there were a lot of stuff I didn't care for. However, I would say for the most part things resolved nicely for me. There are characters I wish that would've gotten more focus at the end, but that's just a personal preference. You really have to dive in to make that determination yourself.

 

[Dresden]

His piece on Lynch is more interesting than anything Lynch ever made.

 

[IblisGinjo]

Liking it so far, and the only thing that gives away the time it was written is when Ish is thinking about

Spoiler

living like a king with the 'negroes' serving him.

Quite surprised when it said that, but I suppose that is because it was written 60 years ago.

Keep reading it's a great book. That's just the author writing the character's true thoughts. We all think crazy stuff from time to time. It turns out to be very progressive in that

Spoiler

Ish's wife Em is black.

 

[Dresden]

It turns out to be very progressive

Spoiler

Ish's wife Em is black

The evolution of the black friend?

 

[bengraven]

Just finished the Mortal Engines quartet.

Overall pretty damn memorable, despite some predictability.

Man, I cannot find part 2. I should really just get it used on Amazon.

I didn't like the first book enough to buy it though. I roam my local libraries or Amazon Prime. I had 1,3 and 4 between all my local libraries but couldn't find 2. I'll admit: I even tried to find a torrent of the ebook. For some reason...they only had books 1, 3, and 4 as well. hahaha

 

[Eric WK]

 

[sparky2112]

Let us know how you like this, especially if you've read The Instructions.

 

[mu cephei]

You know, so many people (including me) have serious issues with GotM (particularly the beginning), it's a wonder Erikson doesn't rewrite at least a portion of it. It does his whole series a bit of a disservice, I think, and at the very least he's lost a fair number of readers because it's so rough...

Maybe he doesn't re-write it cos it's the book he wanted to write? I really liked Gardens of the Moon but really struggled through Deadhouse Gates, I thought it was spectacularly boring. It took me months of slogging to get through.

Anyway.

I've just finished Delusions of Gender by Cordelia Fine. It was excellent. It's about gender and the brain. If anyone's interested in gender similarities, I recommend it. I say similarities, as CF makes the point that purported differences found in studies are far more covered by the media and make it into popular thought whereas all the far more numerous studies which find no differences just get ignored as not newsworthy.

A couple of points off the top of my head I found particularly interesting: tell a woman before a maths exam that women are generally worse than men at maths, and she'll do worse than if she's told there are no differences in abilty between men and women.

Also she suggests there is evidence that even if there are brain differences between male and female (and there is far far less evidence than all those popular science books and even some neuroscientists would have you believe) that it could just be different routes to the same behaviour - apparently mole rats (I think it was) demonstrate identical parental behavour to their young (minus the milk provision of course) but their brains and hormones take different routes to the same end.

Some places she lost me by maybe over-egging the argument, but it's all fascinating. Basically, the brain is plastic and all this 'hard-wiring' stuff has little to no evidence for it.