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[sparky2112]

GRRM needs to hurry up and finish ADWD since I just did a reread of the series up to now over the last month

Yeah, he'll get right on that.

 

[sparky2112]

ughhhhh i just want to finish this book so i can move on. the story is fun, the characters are OK and the action scenes are well written but GAF hype failed me here. i'm 300 pages in and i don't want to take a break because i know i'll never return to it.

I only read the first, and despite a lot of folks insisting that the series gets markedly better as it goes, I'm still hesitant to read the second. Joe is a wonderfully nice and hilarious guy, but I just wasn't feeling it. I am tempted, however, to pick up Best Served Cold , given that it's a stand-alone and his fourth book. I think he has a lot of promise, and maybe he fulfilled it with that one...

 

[crowphoenix]

Started reading 'The Dark Tower' series. It's a little dull so far, but the world is interesting, and I hear it picks up considerably.

 

[bob_arctor]

Just started "The Picture Of Dorian Gray" by Oscar Wilde and am also re-reading "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy in preparation for the upcoming movie. After that, going back to "The Mysterious Benedict Society" by Trenton Lee Stewart.

 

[hoverX]

 

[hack646]

Reading this for school:

Reading this for fun:

Enjoying both.

 

[finowns]

Good fantasy book and first of a trilogy. Comparable to A Song of Ice and Fire series (although I hesitate to compare it to the subtle genius of GRRM's storytelling) with characters not being wholly good nor evil, and a lot of political machinations.

There is bad ass swordsmen and sorcerers, mysterious sects, kings, religious zealots, etc.

Has anyone else read the trilogy? I have only read the first book and would like to hear your take on the rest of the books.

 

[Mifune]

An oddball character piece. I like Lethem but I'm not sure what to think of this so far.

 

[Salazar]

Kingsley Amis - 'Stanley and the Women'. Superb. My fondness for comic misogyny bothers me sometimes, but I don't suppose I can help it.

Michelle Goldberg - 'Kingdom Coming: The Rise of Christian Nationalism'. I heard her in conversation about it at 92nd St Y, and she seemed quite good. Interesting on faith-based government programs.

Kitty Hauser - 'Bloody Old Britain: O.G.S. Crawford and the Archaeology of Modern Life'. Terrific story of an aerial photographer and childhood amateur archaeologist turning his skills and enthusiasms to the promotion of historical geography as a broader, at once more scholarly and more democratic part of British intellectual life. He went Marxist and crazy, and wrote an unpublishably bitter book about Britain's deterioration, from which comes this book's title.

 

[Timber]

I'm reading for Whom the Bell Tolls. Awesome communist propaganda that shows just how fucked that thinking was back in the 20's. It's still a great book, but it reinforces my belief that capitalism is the best thing that's ever happened to man.

what the fuck are you on about?

 

[butzopower]

Just finished reading Haruki Murakami's "After Dark" and probably won't be able to fall asleep even though it's 2AM.

 

[Night_Trekker]

Finally finished Hard-Boiled Wonderland and The End of the World. Pretty damn good. Maybe not as good as Wind-Up Bird, but close.

Next I think I'll start on The Stonemason (McCarthy). That should be a quick read.

 

[Locke562]

 

[Fireblend]

Just finished reading Haruki Murakami's "After Dark" and probably won't be able to fall asleep even though it's 2AM.

Any impressions on this one? I've been on the fence about getting it.

 

[Cosmic Bus]

An oddball character piece. I like Lethem but I'm not sure what to think of this so far.

I really want to get this, but have SO MANY book sitting backlogged on my shelf. I'm also worried that his fiction isn't going to cut it for me any more, after absolutely hating You Don't Love Me Yet. Do you have any thoughts on Chronic City versus the style of that one or Fortress of Solitude (which was much, much better)?

 

[Guileless]

I am reading Jack McDevitt's new novel, Time Travelers Never Die. If you like history and are intrigued by time travel, you should put it on your list. It is quite the page-turner.

And I made it through The Lost Symbol too. (In my defense, I borrowed a friend's copy.) I can't believe nobody else has admitted to reading it yet. I finished it, but more out of a sense of obligation than anything else. Incredibly hoky dialog in places.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I only read the first, and despite a lot of folks insisting that the series gets markedly better as it goes, I'm still hesitant to read the second. Joe is a wonderfully nice and hilarious guy, but I just wasn't feeling it. I am tempted, however, to pick up Best Served Cold , given that it's a stand-alone and his fourth book. I think he has a lot of promise, and maybe he fulfilled it with that one...

Heh. I'm reading this right now. So completely loving it.

 

[finowns]

I only read the first, and despite a lot of folks insisting that the series gets markedly better as it goes, I'm still hesitant to read the second. Joe is a wonderfully nice and hilarious guy, but I just wasn't feeling it. I am tempted, however, to pick up Best Served Cold , given that it's a stand-alone and his fourth book. I think he has a lot of promise, and maybe he fulfilled it with that one...

Book 3 is awesome Logan goes Bloody 9 for half the book!

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

Finishing up:

I have to say I am really enjoying this book. I've been reading a lot of zombie books lately and this one definitely ranks up there as a personal favorite of the genre. I just hope the ending doesn't disappoint.

For my next book I will tackling this beast:

At a heafty 1,088 pages I'm sure it's going to take me forever to finish.

 

[gofreak]

Ugh, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest is turning into quite the slog.

Definitely hasn't clicked with me like the other two did. But I feel like I should finish it just to complete the trilogy. Still hoping that maybe the second half has some awesome revelations or eye-openers.

 

[Combichristoffersen]

And I made it through The Lost Symbol too. (In my defense, I borrowed a friend's copy.) I can't believe nobody else has admitted to reading it yet. I finished it, but more out of a sense of obligation than anything else. Incredibly hoky dialog in places.

Eh, I read it. While I found the Da Vinci Code and Angels & Demnons to be OK for what they were, Lost Symbol was pretty damn mediocre in every aspect.

Ugh, The Girl Who Kicked The Hornet's Nest is turning into quite the slog.

Definitely hasn't clicked with me like the other two did. But I feel like I should finish it just to complete the trilogy. Still hoping that maybe the second half has some awesome revelations or eye-openers.

Sadly, it doesn't. It's easily the worst book in the trilogy.

 

[thomaser]

Now, Jane Austen's Persuasion, the sixth of the seven novels in the complete edition. Before that, The Golden Apple, second book in Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson's Illuminatus! trilogy. Next up is Leviathan, the last Illuminatus!-book. Now, Jane Austen is ok, and brilliant at times, but those Illuminatus-books are beyond brilliant ALL the time. They just never let up the onslaught of awesomeness. So I'm trying to go through Persuasion as quickly as possible so I can get into all the delicious strangeness again.

 

[Mifune]

I really want to get this, but have SO MANY book sitting backlogged on my shelf. I'm also worried that his fiction isn't going to cut it for me any more, after absolutely hating You Don't Love Me Yet. Do you have any thoughts on Chronic City versus the style of that one or Fortress of Solitude (which was much, much better)?

Well, I've been told to avoid You Don't Love Me Yet like the plague, so I can't compare this to that one. To be honest, it feels like a different Lethem than the one who wrote Fortress of Solitude, but again, I'm not very far into it. It's very esoteric and insular and not nearly as accessible. Its meanings are as elusive as an early DeLillo novel's, who I feel like he might be channeling here. The actual writing is definitely gorgeous, though.

Not much help, I'm afraid. But I'll be able to tell you more when I'm further into it. All I can say is it's no disaster so far.

 

[movie_club]

I wish more people posted in this thread

 

[Alucrid]

Man, I need to read more. When I was a kid I would get my parents to take me to Borders every week to buy a new book or two, now I haven't read any novels for enjoyment in ages. Y'know what, I'll start now.

A favorite of mine.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

I've been reading me and my friends making Entertainment Weekly's MUST LIST today:

 

[jon bones]

Book 3 is awesome Logan goes Bloody 9 for half the book!

hey shit head thanks for talking about book 3 when some of us are clearly still on book 2

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

hey shit head thanks for talking about book 3 when some of us are clearly still on book 2

To be fair, it had to happen at some point. (I'm still on Book 2 myself. So amazing. Like, seriously. Gripping stuff.)

 

[jon bones]

To be fair, it had to happen at some point. (I'm still on Book 2 myself. So amazing. Like, seriously. Gripping stuff.)

ehhh... this is far from amazing, my dude. i have to slog through it. it's not bad at all, but nothing special.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

ehhh... this is far from amazing, my dude. i have to slog through it. it's not bad at all, but nothing special.

Well, I love it.

 

[Fireblend]

So, just finished Norwegian Wood; really enjoyed it and I can see myself re-reading it soon. Next up: House of Leaves. Really hyped for it, hopefully I can handle the weirdness
also recently picked this up (love the cover):

And with this and some books that are arriving soon, I have managed to always have something to read for a whole year, which was one of my objectives this year, so yay me! It surprises me how I have read 20+ books this year. Hopefully next year will be the same, I have such a long list of books I intend to read.

 

[jon bones]

You can always stop reading, you know.

I know it seems an obvious things to say, but it took me years to figure out that I didn't have to finish a book I started, if I decided I didn't like it or it was a slog. :lol

I WANT TOOOO

i want to stop and i usually have no problem throwing a book down but i've been trying to just wrap it up and move on. :lol

like i said - it's not BAD, it's just your standard fluff fantasy which sometimes is nice when i'm drunk on a train or something

 

[replicashooter]

Fat head = Smart head

 

[Defcon]

 

[Kurtofan]

The Fellowship of the Ring

 

[BigGreenMat]

I am very slowly making my way to the end of The Corrections. It is no 'A Confederacy of Dunces', but it is pretty good.

 

[Kilgore Trout]

A good read so far, but somewhat confusing. It did get better after Benjy's section though.

 

[xBigDanx]

Great book so far. Totally different than her Kushiel's legacy trilogies. Very enjoyable.

 

[BenjaminBirdie]

Under The Dome is pretty good so far. Very early, but a nice opening.

 

[Spayro]

I feel it's like a less mature, and more violent American Psycho.

 

[Snoodaard]

 

[finowns]

hey shit head thanks for talking about book 3 when some of us are clearly still on book 2

Think of it as incentive. LOGAN is a MONSTER in book 3 get to it. Thank me later.

He worked on the first for years before it was published. The other two, he was under contract and banged them out pretty quickly. It shows.

That said, the characters, the concepts, and the story are still interesting. So if you've been caught up by the first book, you should enjoy the rest of the ride.

You should know, though, that the story is not fully resolved at the end of the trilogy. There are further books coming out to complete the story.

For myself, I don't think I'll read anything further by Bakker. He's a pretty good writer, and has some cool ideas, but I don't think I can take much more of his worldview, for lack of a better word. I'm wary of attributing too much to the writer, but I think that what comes through in his writing really is his worldview--this was crystallized for me when I read the synopsis of his sci-fi novel. He has a way of looking at the world that I simply find distasteful, and thus difficult to read. To put it another way, if books are brain food, then after reading the trilogy I felt as if I had eaten something that upset my stomach.

Thanks. I'll pick up the second book just for the Kellhus story. I hope the rest of the books focus more on him; he had like 4 chapters in this book? it was frustrating.

 

[Deleted member 1235]

i have a storm of swords to read now, 100 pages in. I love this series. Shame it will never be finished.

also got

American Gods - Neil Gaiman

to read off gaf recommendation. And the last probably ever to be published song of ice and fire book, which makes me sad to even think about. But they are great.

 

[Salazar]

'Then We Came to the End', by Joshua Ferris.

It's a comic-claustrophobic take on American office life, much in the style of George Saunders or Tom Perrotta. It's Ferris' first book, and it's really very good.

 

[Monroeski]

Picked this up on a whim. Just started it though.

Make sure to tell us how it is when you finish. Almost grabbed that on a whim the other day myself.

 

[siddx]

Since i've been doing a bunch of subbing recently, I've been reading the books my students are reading.

A separate peace, which was alright. Ending was terrible.
The things they carried. Which was freaking fantastic.
Tuesdays with morrie, which was drivel that I couldn't even finish.
And oddly enough, my favorite book was actually for middle schoolers. Al Capone does my laundry. One of the best books i've ever read.

 

[joeyjoejoeshabadoo]

Under The Dome is pretty good so far. Very early, but a nice opening.

Good to hear.

 

[Silkworm]

Make sure to tell us how it is when you finish. Almost grabbed that on a whim the other day myself.

I too am curious to hear what Ceebs thinks of it. I finished reading "The Terror" by Dan Simmons not too long ago. It took me a long time to finish it, but I enjoyed it. Perhaps I should try Simmons' "Carrion Comfort" which is being re-released in paperback in a couple of weeks? It was his 2nd published book and I haven't read it but it has gotten good reviews whereas "Drood: A Novel" seems to have pretty mixed reactions.

 

[T1tan]

I'm very interested in your impressions on this book. I was a fan of Little Brother by the same author.

 

[Night_Trekker]

A good read so far, but somewhat confusing. It did get better after Benjy's section though.

That's probably my favorite novel ever. Thumbs up