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Maklershed · Jun 1, 2012

Maklershed · Jun 1, 2012

No Country for Old Men by Cormac McCarthy

JGS · Jun 1, 2012

Just started Brave New World.

Speschal K · Jun 1, 2012

Liking this so far ~200 pages in:

But might have to take a break when this comes out next week:

Witchfinder General · Jun 1, 2012

JGS said:
Just started Brave New World.

Read this afterwards:

Just started reading:

Sleights of Mind - Stephen L. Macknik and Susana Martinez-Conde

Almyn · Jun 1, 2012

Speschal K said:
But might have to take a break when this comes out next week:

OOhhh. I didn't know this was out so soon.

I'm still working my way through the Dresden Files. I started book 6 last night. They really are kinda dumb and it sometimes feels like I'm just reading the same book over and over, But they're still a lot of fun to read.

An-Det · Jun 1, 2012

Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson

I'm 76% through it and it's fantastic. Once I got over the learning curve in the first book (Gardens of the Moon) and got used to Erikson's writing, his stuff got awesome. I've been told shit gets crazy in the last 100 pages and to not read it in public. I cant wait to see what happens.

thomaser · Jun 1, 2012

Love in the Time of Cholera by Gabriel Garcia Marquez.

Only just started. I'm not even sure if it can be put into the Magical Realism genre or if it's just plain old realism. Will be done with my exams next Friday, so I won't get far in the book until then.

negreenfield · Jun 1, 2012

I only do Audio books for "entertainment" reading while driving to and from work, so just finished listening to:

"Why We Get Fat and What to do about it" - Gary Taubes. I'm already in the Paleo/Primal camp so it was just more information about the same. Thought it was pretty good.

Now listening to:

"The God Delusion" - Richard Dawkins. Just more confirming my lean from Agnosticism into Atheism, just finished the Old Testament chapter, the New Testament chapter is next.

I'm going to move to some fiction next so I'll be listening to the Song of Ice and Fire series.

For work related items I'm reading both (actual physical books, i can't even imagine trying to listen to something like these):

"Implementing IPv6"
"CCNP ROUTE 642-902 Official Certification Guide"

Speschal K · Jun 1, 2012

Almyn said:
OOhhh. I didn't know this was out so soon.

Check out the first four chapters for free on amazon or B&N if you haven't yet! Scalzi posted a bit on his blog about the format of the book which I thought was interesting

Many of the reviews of Redshirts note it, and the original subtitle of the book (which you can still see on the Amazon page for it) points it out explicitly, so I thought Id write a little something about it here. It is:

Redshirts is not a novel.

More accurately, the book Redshirts is not just a novel. It is a novel with three codas.

The codas in this case are three short stories presented after the novel, which offer some additional perspective on the events of the novel. The novel itself is a complete story you can read just the novel part and have a complete narrative arc, plot and character resolution and so on. But the complete experience of Redshirts, the book, includes the three stories at the end. The three stories at the end arent throwaway bits; the three stories at the end matter.

More here: http://whatever.scalzi.com/2012/05/31/a-note-about-the-format-of-redshirts/

ClosingADoor · Jun 1, 2012

Been reading this one: The Virtues of War about Alexander the Great. Been great so far. It's a fun mix of history, battles and their tactics and just entertainment.

The Culture Vulture · Jun 1, 2012

We Need To Talk About Kevin

Only a few chapters in but I'm already worried if I will enjoy it. Is the entire book written in the "letters talking about past events" style? I find the point of view and subject of the book interesting but what I've read so far has been very pretentious.

NekoFever · Jun 1, 2012

It's been sat on my shelf for ages so I decided to tackle it. Holy shit is the writing bad. I don't know if it's the translation being crap or too literal with the Russian or whatever, but I'm only 90 pages in and I'm struggling. It's a four-day weekend here so I'll give myself until the end of that for it to improve.

brianjones · Jun 1, 2012

The Culture Vulture said:
We Need To Talk About Kevin

Only a few chapters in but I'm already worried if I will enjoy it. Is the entire book written in the "letters talking about past events" style? I find the point of view and subject of the book interesting but what I've read so far has been very pretentious.

i would just watch the movie instead if you haven't

twisteddeeds · Jun 1, 2012

An-Det said:
Deadhouse Gates by Steven Erikson

I'm 76% through it and it's fantastic. Once I got over the learning curve in the first book (Gardens of the Moon) and got used to Erikson's writing, his stuff got awesome. I've been told shit gets crazy in the last 100 pages and to not read it in public. I cant wait to see what happens.

ohhh man are you in for a treat.. the next books even better

bengraven · Jun 1, 2012

Can't go wrong.

Working on sifting through my paper backlog since my wife has grown a suddenly fascination with trilogies about women and has stolen my Kindle for the last few months to read 50 Shades of Grey, The Hunger Games, and the Beauty trilogies. She's now halfway through Interview with the Vampire and I'm happy to see she's reading so damn much (according to her, she's nearly read more in the last year than her entire life combined - I'm a good influence), but I'd still like my Kindle back...

NekoFever said:
It's been sat on my shelf for ages so I decided to tackle it. Holy shit is the writing bad. I don't know if it's the translation being crap or too literal with the Russian or whatever, but I'm only 90 pages in and I'm struggling. It's a four-day weekend here so I'll give myself until the end of that for it to improve.

I fucking love this concept, though Writing GAF might remember why this book makes me bitter.

But you might be right about the translation. The book alternates between brilliant Lovecraftian horror, tense conflicts, awesome world building (all the little "villages") and then suddenly you'll get long boring diatribes that reek of the writer's personal philosophy and have little if anything to do with the actual plot. I have a feeling that even the translator grew bored sometimes, or there were multiple translators working to get this shoved out in English.

Either way, I'm still at the 71% on my Kindle version. I've never abandoned a novel so far into it. I usually stick through.

Then again, that could be the ease of ADHD with a Kindle.

eznark · Jun 1, 2012

sgossard · Jun 1, 2012

Just finished this one to celebrate Towel day

and just started this one

Screaming_Gremlin · Jun 1, 2012

I keep forgetting to post in these threads.

Well, technically I finished reading The Windup Girl by Paolo Bacigalupi in May, but whatever. I read one of his short stories in some collection of post-apocalyptic stories that I picked up last year and have since made sure to pick up everything else he has written. I thought this was a really good book.

A Kindle version of this finally came out sometime in the last few months. I love early Cold War history, so I have been wanting to read it for a while. I am probably only a quarter of the way through, but it has been pretty good so far. It is definitely a dense book and it can be difficult to keep all of the names and code names straight.

aidan · Jun 1, 2012

Just for Cyan, I'm currently reading Wards of Faerie by Terry Brooks. I know Brooks doesn't have a lot of fans around these parts, but he's long been a favourite of mine for, alongside Tolkien, introducing me to the Fantasy genre. I went into Wards of Faerie with extreme caution, given the quality of Brooks several most recent novels, but have been pleasantly surprised by the book. It's the best thing he's written in 10 years.

After that, I think I'll move onto:

The Testament of Jessie Lamb by Jane Rogers. Recently won the Arthur C. Clarke award.

Dresden · Jun 1, 2012

Almost finished with Daniel Abraham's The King's Blood. Good read, for sure; characters are expanded upon, shit happens. Struck by how much I like just about everyone in the cast, from Dawson to Geder to Marcus fucking Wester.

Don't know what I'll be digging into next. I'd started My Korean Deli a while back, but King's Blood took over and now that I'm done I don't feel like going back. Have The Marriage Plot by Eugenides lying around so I might get into that, or perhaps Cosmicomics by Calvino.

Movement · Jun 1, 2012

Just finished

And about halfway through:

Rinoa · Jun 1, 2012

Reading a ton of silly books right now, like Mr. Darcy Goes Overboard (it's terrible).

This is the pile of some of the worst books ever behind my desk, haven't read them outside of bits and pieces but hilarious to read about them. Especially the rants on goodreads.

The Selection
HALO
Modelland

They make Twilight look good.

nakedsushi · Jun 1, 2012

The Culture Vulture said:
We Need To Talk About Kevin

Only a few chapters in but I'm already worried if I will enjoy it. Is the entire book written in the "letters talking about past events" style? I find the point of view and subject of the book interesting but what I've read so far has been very pretentious.

It's written in epistolary style. I think the mom and dad are supposed to be pretentious and kind of hard to take. I hated the dad throughout the entire book.

From the last thread, to carry on the conversation:

Mumei said:
I do what your friend does sometimes (though it isn't getting back into reading for me; just going back and forth), just because occasionally I want to read something I don't need to think too much about and can just enjoy on a base, surface level.

Edit: What Cyan said!

I'm the same way. But I do find it jarring sometimes to from wonderful writing (Ishiguro, Nabokov, etc.) to only so-so writing. I tend to do something like literature, highly-rated sci-fi or fantasy, trashy paranormal romance or fantasy, non-fiction, repeat.

But sometimes I get stuck on a trashy trend, especially if it's a series, and I end up reading a bunch in a row.

It is the need to take a break from serious stuff that drives me to it. Sometimes, I just want a cheap thrill, not 300 pages of navel-gazing.

I'm almost halfway through this and love, love, love it so far.

Wool Omnibus Edition by Hugh Howey
Every "chapter" is better than the next. From reading a lot of post-apocolyptic dystopian books, I kind of thought I knew what to expect and in a way, nothing is really *that* groundbreaking, but I really care about the people in the silo.

Also reading through this, as much as anyone can read through a cookbook. I like the little introductions she has to each recipe.

Every Grain of Rice: Simple Chinese Home Cooking by Fuchsia Dunlop

Zona · Jun 1, 2012

It's not by any means the best book I've read, but it's an enjoyable enough read. It's also part of a series, which is good for me as I'm back at work and go through books quickly. Last summer I got through around 150.

Movement · Jun 1, 2012

Zona said:
It's not by any means the best book I've read, but it's an enjoyable enough read. It's also part of a series, which is good for me as I'm back at work and go through books quickly. Last summer I got through around 150.

I really like Piers Anthony. Have you read any Xanth books?

Kisaya · Jun 1, 2012

Finally started Dragon Tattoo!

FiRez · Jun 1, 2012

These were my first kindle readings, amazing investment btw, not only I read even more than before but it has helped me greatly with my French: I finished The little prince for the 5th time on it and I used a lot the highlighting and note taking functions along with the multi-language dictionary support to make my own translation of several parts.

I'm currently at 62% of the original version in old Spanish, I'm surprised the humor hold this well after more than 4 centuries, is easily the funniest and best classic work I've read so far, sorry "Les Miserables"

Stephen gives some very concise and practical tips for those who want to engage in writing but since English is my 2nd language I find myself rather using it to improve my writing and speech and make them both appear more idiomatic, also the first third of the book is a hilarious auto-biography

I just finished this one, I decided to read it because Reddit seems to love it to the point of nausea. Is indeed quite interesting, the only boring parts where the chapters about plants, seeds, agriculture, etc... I'm not fond on the topic itself, however I loved everything else specially the parts about language (origin, writing, evolution, etc...)

Jarlaxle · Jun 1, 2012

I'll admit to liking Piers Anthony's Apprentice Adept trilogy. I've never read any of his other stuff.

Son1x · Jun 1, 2012

I am reading

I have this ugly cover

massoluk · Jun 1, 2012

Taking a break from Wheel of Time re-read, I'm going through Miss Marple right now. Have done some Poirot, going to try this one chronologically. Just finished Murder at the Vicarage.

Mike Works · Jun 1, 2012

Sonnets about hot stock tips? Haiku about adjustable-rate mortgages? In retrospect, maybe it wasn't such a wise move to bet the farm on a Web site that offers financial advice in verse. Matt Prior, the bumbling narrator of Jess Walter's fifth novel, "The Financial Lives of the Poets," admits as much. If poetfolio.com failed to make him a millionaire, Matt thought he could always get his reporting job back. How could he have known that the newspaper business would tank along with the rest of the economy, leaving him at age 46 with no job, no job prospects and six days left before foreclosure on his house?

Financial meltdown isn't the only problem facing the devoted husband and father in this deliciously antic tale of an American dream gone very sour. Matt's senile father lives with him after losing his net worth to a Las Vegas stripper. Matt's two boys are having problems at school. His wife, Lisa, is despondent from her own failed entrepreneurial adventure -- a belly-up eBay resale business that has left them with a garage crammed with dreck. She sneaks to her computer for an Internet affair with the heir to a local store called Lumberland.

The PEN/O. Henry Prize Stories 2012 gathers twenty of the best short stories of the year, selected from thousands published in literary magazines. These remarkable stories explore the boundaries of the imagination in settings as various as an army training camp in China, the salt mines of Detroit, a divided Balkan town, and the eye of a hurricane. Also included are essays from the eminent jurors on their favorite stories, observations from the winners on what inspired them, and an extensive resource list of magazines.

cousins · Jun 1, 2012

eattomorro · Jun 1, 2012

Currently reading:

I'm at about 23%, Chapter 28, which puts me at about page 330. Only about another 1100 pages to go!

sep · Jun 1, 2012

Just started, everyone speaks highly of this...

Attackthebase · Jun 1, 2012

eattomorro said:
Currently reading:

I'm at about 23%, Chapter 28, which puts me at about page 330. Only about another 1100 pages to go!

How is the Kindle edition?

Kuraudo · Jun 1, 2012

Carrying two books around with me at the moment.

Seven amazing stories in one volume. Great characters and a gripping plot. Loving every moment.

Balancing it out with some light reading:

So good. DFW <3

I'm just over a hundred pages in and it's already blown my mind a few times. Loved the little vignettes about

the pregnant couple who had planned the abortion and the introduction to Strycek as a kid

. Highlight so far is the

Author's Foreward, seventy pages in, which loses some of its effect because of the fact Wallace is selling the story as a memoir while discussing publishers and editors when the book had been through neither at the time of his death. Still love what he was trying to do (expanding ideas from Octet or Good Old Neon into a novel) and the little end piece about boredom has left me thinking all day.

Santiako · Jun 1, 2012

I'm currently half-way through The Mote in God's Eye, it's very good so far, very interesting alien civilization.

Syph Medwes · Jun 1, 2012

cousins · Jun 2, 2012

Syph Medwes said:

I wasn't really a fan. What are your thoughts so far?

Syph Medwes · Jun 2, 2012

cousins said:
I wasn't really a fan. How're you feeling about it so far?

Only about 50 pages in and I'm liking it so far but... I'm kind of lost. I think that feeling will disappear as I read more though. What didn't you like about it?

RobotHaus · Jun 2, 2012

Finishing up the series.

Probably going to follow up with this:

Now I want to read some sci-fi, should I get Ender's Game or Dune first?

I've been reading mixed opinions where some say EG is garbage while others say it's fun. Either way I've heard nothing but good from Dune. So should I try the lesser before I read the good or just go straight for Dune?

- J - D - · Jun 2, 2012

Picked up Robopocalypse, Broken Angels (sequel to Altered Carbon), and Society of Mind by Marvin Minsky the other day.

dr3upmushroom · Jun 2, 2012

Santiako said:
I'm currently half-way through The Mote in God's Eye, it's very good so far, very interesting alien civilization.

I read that book about a year ago after someone suggested it in a thread I made about good sci-fi and loved it. The aliens seem really well-thought out and the way the book combines the aliens' evolution and biology with the politics of the situation was really interesting. It was really obviously a product of its time though, it was pretty goofy how all of the people in powerful positions are either American or Russian. I also rolled my eyes about the planets full of Irish and Scottish people, pretty ridiculous. Overall a great novel though.

I looked into the sequels and the general consensus seems to be that they're mostly shit, which is too bad.

Woorloog · Jun 2, 2012

RobotHaus said:
Now I want to read some sci-fi, should I get Ender's Game or Dune first?

I've been reading mixed opinions where some say EG is garbage while others say it's fun. Either way I've heard nothing but good from Dune. So should I try the lesser before I read the good or just go straight for Dune?

Ender's Game is... light, easy read but the concepts in it are... disturbing, to some anyway.
It is interesting read (and a classic), that's for sure, but you have to judge it yourself.

Dune is more difficult, names, the setting seem to be putting people off. It is not really disturbing like Ender's Game though. It is a classic too, so read it.
My favorite book, by the way, i was 11 or 12 when i first read it, still read it every year or every other year.

No recommendations on which you should read first.

Attackthebase · Jun 2, 2012

About done with my current non-fiction novel, so I'm looking at two possible books to read next.

Or

Thoughts on what I should read?

Maklershed · Jun 2, 2012

I thought the message behind Atlas Shrugged and Rand's theories on capitalism in general are a ridiculous fantasy but I still thought the story was interesting and well told.

FiRez · Jun 2, 2012

Attackthebase said:
About done with my current non-fiction novel, so I'm looking at two possible books to read next.

Or

Thoughts on what I should read?

If I could ever forget reading a book, I would choose "The Nausea" not because it was bad, but because it was extremely depressing, it puts names to certain experiences and feelings that you prefer to ignore and then proceeds to rub them in your face.

"The Stranger" isn't Camus's best imho, I would read "The Plague" or "The myth of Sisyphus" instead.

Camus and Sartre wrote about almost the same thing but the point of view of the former is much more inspiring.

eattomorro · Jun 2, 2012

Attackthebase said:
How is the Kindle edition?

Good for $2.99 actually. There are some small grammatical errors, but maybe that's with the translation. There are multiple kindle editions as well, so you have a choice.

AAequal · Jun 2, 2012

FiRez said:
If I could ever forget reading a book, I would choose "The Nausea" not because it was bad, but because it was extremely depressing, it puts names to certain experiences and feelings that you prefer to ignore and then proceeds to rub them in your face.

"The Stranger" isn't Camus's best imho, I would read "The Plague" or "The myth of Sisyphus" instead.

Camus and Sartre wrote about almost the same thing but the point of view of the former is much more inspiring.

I still feel Stranger is best novel by Camus and by far better then anything Sartre wrote. Stranger is also short and very easy to read so it shouldn't take more the few hours to finish. I would start with it.

The Myth of Sisyphus is great read too and I would say it's better to read it right after or before you plunge into Camus novels. Still, I pretty much love all the work Camus did from novels to plays to essays (Rebel is also must read) and I would say any place is good place to start, well maybe you shouldn't start with Fall, many says it's boring tho I never took it as boring book.

Edit. Also be sure you don't have that god awful "Mama died today" translation of Stranger.

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