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What are you reading? (November 2011)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
I recently finished Theft of Swords by Michael J. Sullivan, which was a lot of fun, if traditional.
Now into Throne of the Crescent Moon by Saladin Ahmed. Also fun, the arabic twist on the setting, myths and magic is a very nice change of pace for a fairly recognizable S&S style plot.
nakedsushi
Member
The best advice I was given about Pale Fire (one of my favorite Nabokov books) was to skip the poem in the beginning and dive straight to the prose. I did exactly that and loved the book. He goes back to the poem so thoroughly in the prose that you really don't need to read it beforehand.
And now, to destroy my literary cred (if I had any), I finished another JD Robb book:
Vengeance in Death by J.D. Robb
Enjoyed it as usual. These are such fun, quick reads. The mystery isn't usually something spectacular, but I'm really starting to love most of the regular characters. Especially Peabody.
King Solomon's Mines, but be warned, it's pretty unpleasant in its treatment of black people, women and elephants. If you have a device to read it on you can download it for free from Project Gutenberg.
MrOogieBoogie
BioShock Infinite is like playing some homeless guy's vivid imagination
Pretty interesting read. A good mix of funny and sorrowful, but mostly heartbreaking.
Maklershed
Member
If you don't mind light breezy reading a lot of Clive Cussler's books are like that. The movie Sahara is based on one on of his books where McConnaughey plays an Indiana Jones type character. And Spartan Gold is kinda like that too.
Try Matthew Reilly, especially the series starting with Seven Ancient Wonders
http://www.amazon.com/dp/0330525581/?tag=neogaf0e-20
Maklershed
Member
I'm with you man. After I got my Kobo, I'm done with buying 1000 pages fantasy hardcover books.
Maklershed
Member
So glad to have a Kindle or I'd seriously probably not have read The Stand, Duma Key, Under the Dome, and the Song of Ice and Fire books. My bag is heavy enough (not a euphemism) without lugging around 10 pound door stops.
THanks.
Not to be that guy, but hardcovers are the bread and butter of the publishing industry and buying them is the best possible way to support your favourite authors. I know they're expensive and heavy, but at least consider buying them now and then to support mid-list authors who you'd like to see more books from.
Reamde is still dragging, the biography is making me despise Jobs (and saps any desire I have to read more about the guy) and the Prague Cemetery still feels impenetrable.
Not a good month for reading. Zero books finished. I feel shame.
Unfortunately for impoverished authors, I read for my enjoyment not to enrich them.
Not a good month for reading. Zero books finished. I feel shame.
Unfortunately for impoverished authors, I read for my enjoyment not to enrich them.
Aquavelvaman
Banned
I finally got a handle on my workload and finished up A Cook's Tour. Probably my favorite Bourdain book. I like world-traveler Tony best, even though Chef Tony and Food Politic Tony are good too. Plus there are like four chapters on Vietnam. Forget about it.
I'm debating starting 1Q84. I think I might have already missed the bandwagon though.
In the meantime I'm starting these two:
I'm debating starting 1Q84. I think I might have already missed the bandwagon though.
In the meantime I'm starting these two:
If by "great gaming references" you mean "piles of lists used in unclever ways" then you are correct.
I'm 51% in the book so far. The dungeon stuff and the random ramblings he goes on for games and movies are alright, but this geeky romance thing going on is pretty terrible. Also the villains or IOI seem very comically cliched so far.
Lasthope106
Member
Finished reading "At the mountains of Madness" and I was disappointed. H.P. Lovecraft is hailed as the best horror writer of the 20th century and this book was supposed to be among his best, but I just didn't see it. Even Poe's short stories surpass ATMOM in creepiness and tension.
Then there were other flaws as he kept repeating the same thing over and over. I feel the tale would have been served better as a short story than a novella. With this done, I proceeded to start with "The Call of Cthulhu" but I'm already loosing interest. Since the story is not that long, I'll just slug through it but I'm just not seeing why Lovecraft is the master of terror. What am I doing wrong GAF?
Nevertheless, the next book in my list is:
It was only $3 for the kindle version and it seems to be the most balanced biography of Richard Feynman. Already read the first few chapters and this is looking like its going to be my read of the year.
Then there were other flaws as he kept repeating the same thing over and over. I feel the tale would have been served better as a short story than a novella. With this done, I proceeded to start with "The Call of Cthulhu" but I'm already loosing interest. Since the story is not that long, I'll just slug through it but I'm just not seeing why Lovecraft is the master of terror. What am I doing wrong GAF?
Nevertheless, the next book in my list is:
It was only $3 for the kindle version and it seems to be the most balanced biography of Richard Feynman. Already read the first few chapters and this is looking like its going to be my read of the year.
AngmarsKing701
Member
This.
Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Not too long, has a neat premise and a super interesting setting, the inspiration for Blade Runner, etc. etc.
I don't think I enjoyed the Forever War as much as most people. Thought it was just okay.
Kindle is the greatest shit ever. I read so much these days because of it.
CajoleJuice
Member
Just finished:
AMAZING, AMAZING BOOK. Still a little too early to say *but* it may be in my top 3 books of all time.
and
Good story, finished it in a couple days. I wouldn't say it was AMAZING but certainly worth a read.
Now starting:
The first 15-20 pages were dreadful... very confusing to me but things have finally began to get interesting (I'm at around the 60 pg mark)
AMAZING, AMAZING BOOK. Still a little too early to say *but* it may be in my top 3 books of all time.
and
Good story, finished it in a couple days. I wouldn't say it was AMAZING but certainly worth a read.
Now starting:
The first 15-20 pages were dreadful... very confusing to me but things have finally began to get interesting (I'm at around the 60 pg mark)
i understand that. i'm just not prepared to spend $40 on a book that's not even comfortable for me to hold. at least i'm still buying books at all, y'know?
and like eznark said.. ultimately i'm buying books for me, not to put food on some dudes table.
I just finished Infinite Jest. A few years ago I might've been pretty pissed off by the ending. Now I'm just confused and curious. Does anybody have some good interpretations and theories on hand?
But it was still a great read. A bit show-offy at times, but an incredibly rich and dense experience.
But it was still a great read. A bit show-offy at times, but an incredibly rich and dense experience.
I thought this was a pretty good theory about what happens after the book ends. I don't agree with it all, but it cites a few things I missed when I read the book.
You should definitely read the first chapter again, just to put it in context.
Cave up on Murakami's 1Q84 after the first book, it was just so boring and pretty much same old Murakami. I have now started reading Infinite Jest by DFW and so far it's good but I do have to pace myself with this. Some chapters are rather easy to digest and some I have to read over and over again to figure out what went on.
It does bother me a bit that the footnotes are stuffed in back of the book and not on the same page like in his short stories / articles, the extra flipping is annoying since I can't make up mind if I should check out the notes after I finished the chapeter or right away :b
It does bother me a bit that the footnotes are stuffed in back of the book and not on the same page like in his short stories / articles, the extra flipping is annoying since I can't make up mind if I should check out the notes after I finished the chapeter or right away :b
sparky2112
Member
Plus, how can a book titled 'Infinite Jest' actually HAVE an ending? But seriously, Wallace is on the record as deliberately keeping things obtuse, hence the host of books that have since been published to pick the book apart while trying to tie it together. I really think that the genius of the book doesn't begin to reveal itself until you read about some of the connections and then re-read the book. There are little things all over the place that you simply don't notice on the first read. One small example (if memory serves) out of hundreds: in the chapter where the Mid-Eastern liason watches The Entertainment, it's strongly hinted that he has had an affair with Hal's mother. Huh? Right, the book is full of that kind of stuff.
Now go watch that Decemberists video...
You'll understand why they had to do it this way when you get to the 30 page footnotes...
what Decemberists video..?
I'd strongly recommend reading the footnotes as you go, if only so you can experience the hysterical pleasure of reading upwards of 30 pages of single footnotes at a time. If you've got a physical copy, go ahead and grab a second bookmark. If you're reading it digitally, I dunno exactly how you handle that, but either way you want to read 'em as you go.
By the way, for folks who have finished Infinite Jest, here's the aforementioned Descemberists video for "Calamity Song". If you're still reading Infinite Jest and haven't read the Eschaton chapter yet, don't watch the video.
FnordChan
Heh.
Unfortunately, I started reading it before I saw this post, and I read the poem first. I read the Foreword after that and now I am reading the Commentary.
Oh, well. I am still loving it.
Ready Player One
This is a much better cover than the standard red coloured one I have.
Finished the book today. It was an enjoyable read. I liked some of the moments in the book especially with that Pac Man game and the final fight.
. The book does have its problems though. A lot of the dialogues felt very awkward, the villains were portrayed very terribly, and some of the stuff Wade pulled near the end of the book were pretty bad. I definitely enjoyed the ride, but it could have been done better.
Now I'm debating what book to read next. I have got The Long Ships, The Brothers Sisters and The Sense of an Ending. I realize they are pretty different books, but you guys know which one is an easy read?
This is a much better cover than the standard red coloured one I have.
Finished the book today. It was an enjoyable read. I liked some of the moments in the book especially with that Pac Man game and the final fight.
All out robots war was pretty cool. And I smiled a little with the Mazinger Z mention at the end with Minerva X. One of my favourite childhood mech anime.
Now I'm debating what book to read next. I have got The Long Ships, The Brothers Sisters and The Sense of an Ending. I realize they are pretty different books, but you guys know which one is an easy read?
Maklershed
Member
^Good choice. I loved that.
Good book, by an even better bloke. They are tough as nail, I should know. My Father-in-law is one (Au).
That must have been a scary first couple of dates...