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What are you reading? (December 09)

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Pretty self explanatory.

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Thanks to exams I have no time to spare, but when I do, I'm still going through this. Only a sixth into it, the characters are engaging and interesting but nothing has really hit me yet. It's starting to though.
 

ultron87

Member
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It's crunch time for school these next few weeks so I won't have that much time for reading (or much else really) but in the spare moments I have I am either reading Clash of Kings or a number of comics I've picked up recently.

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Chew- About a detective who can get a psychic imprint of anything he eats who works for the FDA in a world where Chicken is illegal thanks to an Avian Flu. Really bizarre and entertaining.

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Promethea Vol 1- By Alan Moore. Initially looks like a straight Wonder Woman ripoff, but even in this first collection presents really interesting ideas about imagination and the power of stories. I've heard that it gets crazier as it goes on, so I'll probably grab another volume at some point.

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Planetary Vol 3 - Warren Ellis' series about 'archaeologists of the world's secret history'. This is one of the best comic series I've read all year. But I feel like this is something that is infinitely more enjoyable if you read a ton of super hero comics as each issue is essentially a call out to one or more other comics.
And god damn if he doesn't make you hate his evil Fantastic Four.
I wish the last volume was already out, but it doesn't come out until March.
 

X26

Banned
Started American Gods yesterday, only 86pgs in but sofar it's been pretty good, and very, very o_O
 
I've decided to buy all Wheel of Time book and reread them, in English this time. So the other day I received the first two books and am reading the first one.
 
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Wasn't expecting this amount of sex. I felt wrong reading it in class the other day. I had to just put it away and eat a satsuma instead :lol
 
Scythian Empire said:
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Wasn't expecting this amount of sex. I felt wrong reading it in class the other day. I had to just put it away and eat a satsuma instead :lol

Ya, and not the good kind of sex, either!
 

Jedeye Sniv

Banned
SMH at the people posting comics in this thread. Comics aren't books! :lol
(before anyone takes offense at this, I read around £50 worth of comics a week and currently have about 5 GNs on the go - if this thread was just about what comics I'm reading it would be looooooong!)

Currently reading Nova Swing

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It's been a while since I read Light, Harrison's last novel, and I had forgotten just how amazing his work is. Incredibly futuristic, breakneck speed, hyper referential to made-up concepts that just make your head spin. I swear Harrison's SF is the most forward looking and bewildering I have ever read, even though it plays with 40s/50s pulp/noir tropes it still reads like its from the future. He has such an incredible way with imagery as well, he's showing me things I had never even imagined the concepts of, let alonedoing the things he has them doing. So cool.
 

ultron87

Member
Jedeye Sniv said:
SMH at the people posting comics in this thread. Comics aren't books! :lol
(before anyone takes offense at this, I read around £50 worth of comics a week and currently have about 5 GNs on the go - if this thread was just about what comics I'm reading it would be looooooong!)

Well technically it does say "What are you reading?" and not "What books are you reading?" So even if you don't consider comics to be books, it still works.

And it's not like I posted single issues, so reading those collections has taken up a not insignificant time of my total reading.
 

Monroeski

Unconfirmed Member
Jedeye Sniv said:
SMH at the people posting comics in this thread. Comics aren't books! :lol
(before anyone takes offense at this, I read around £50 worth of comics a week and currently have about 5 GNs on the go - if this thread was just about what comics I'm reading it would be looooooong!)
I must have missed where it says "books" in the title and OP.

::edit::
Damn, beaten by a mile. That's what I get for not clicking submit for a few minutes. :lol
 

Alucard

Banned
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I am DETERMINED to finally put Neuromancer behind me either today or tomorrow. It has taken me close to TWO MONTHS to finish it. Ugh. 55 pages to go...I think I really do hate this book for its total lack of sense and introduction of far too many characters, concepts, elements, and names in general. I know a lot of people love this book, but I just find it to be a straight-up clusterfuck and a mess.
 

xBigDanx

Member
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Pretty good though the cast of characters is pretty big so it's getting hard to keep track of.

Also reading through:

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Pretty standard killer/detective story. Very easy, mindless read.

Everytime I come through these threads, I always see the 'classic' books that I have not read and keep saying I need to read them. Snow Crash is one of them. I just never find the time to add them to my list.
 

Schattenjäger

Gabriel Knight
Just finished
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. Good stuff - scorcese and de Niro might make a movie

not sure if I should start
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Anybody read it? Worth it?
 
xBigDanx said:
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Pretty good though the cast of characters is pretty big so it's getting hard to keep track of.

SO BEST.

Finished it last weekend. It's compelled me to just go ahead and read every King book I haven't read yet (and probably some I already have).

CURRENTLY:
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xBigDanx

Member
Schattenjagger said:
not sure if I should start
house-of-leaves.jpg



Anybody read it? Worth it?

Wondering the same thing... My mom had this and I saw it when I was home for Thanksgiving. Looks interesting but looks like it could be a difficult/challenging read which I don't know if I'm in the mood for right now.
 

Jedeye Sniv

Banned
ultron87 said:
Well technically it does say "What are you reading?" and not "What books are you reading?" So even if you don't consider comics to be books, it still works.

And it's not like I posted single issues, so reading those collections has taken up a not insignificant time of my total reading.

by that logic, I should also post "Neogaf" since I spend as much time reading it as I do books or comics, or the database I use at work, that's full of words :lol Anway, I'm just being a facetious asshole, as I'm sure you can tell. As I said in my disclaimer, I read more comics than is probably healthy (especially for my wallet), so it's not like I can judge!

Also, House of Leaves is fucking aweeesome. It's a total headfuck and is quite a lot of work, but the story itself is gripping, both of them. The creepy bits remind me of Paranormal Activity and make me wish that just the Navidson Record could be made into a film. If you have this book, read it!
 
BruceLeeRoy said:
Nice I love that book. Great cast of characters and one of the worst villains of all time.
I love it so far, too. I'm about halfway in, and while the writing might not be the best in the world, the story is great and the characters are really well done.
 

Timber

Member
Started reading George Eliot's Silas Marner yesterday. Filled with wisdoms and, after 60 or so pages, becomes quite funny.
 
Finished A Farewell to Arms yesterday and loved it. Probably the most powerful ending I've ever read or seen. Hemingway was ruthless, chewed me up and spat me out, in the rain. :lol

I've now started reading A Study in Scarlet and plan to go through the whole collection, probably with a bit of The Sirens of Titan on the side.
 

ultron87

Member
Damn, that is a mighty fine looking piece of book...

And to the people reading/considering reading Snow Crash: Hell yes that book is so good. I recently read the first few chapters again (was trying out the Kindle app on the iPod touch) and remembered just how fun that book is.
 
Copied from the November thread, given that I posted it today. Yes, I'm just that dumb:

I'm gonna be reading House of Leaves for quite a while, I fear. I'm pretty sure I like it, but I'm also finding it a bit tedious 100 pages in.

Also up to the title essay (which is last and which I've read before) in David Foster Wallace's A Supposedly Fun Thing.... It's the rest of the book I'd not read before now. I've always taken Wallace's non-fiction in small doeses, but I really charged through this book - it's that good. Having never seen a David Lynch movie (aside from Dune), I even loved THAT. Loved the Michael Joyce tennis piece too. Even though I've read most of the stuff in Consider the Lobster already, I'll probably charge on into that after we get off the cruise ship. Or Wallace gets off the cruise ship, rather.

2010 will see me doing a re-read of IJ, since we're deprised of The Pale King until 2011 for some stupid reason...grumble...
 
Having finished The Stonemason (good, probably the better of McCarthy's two plays), I started reading The Salmon of Doubt last night. I'll probably jump between that and All the Pretty Horses.

Schattenjagger said:
not sure if I should start
house-of-leaves.jpg



Anybody read it? Worth it?

xBigDanx said:
Wondering the same thing... My mom had this and I saw it when I was home for Thanksgiving. Looks interesting but looks like it could be a difficult/challenging read which I don't know if I'm in the mood for right now.

Yeah, it's worth it. It's intriguing and very creative. The framing story is a little off-putting, filled with unlikeable characters, but the story within the story is quite good. The book (among many other things) pokes fun at literary academia with tons of nonsensical footnotes. And yeah, it will demand more from you than your average novel, but you'll get a lot out of it, too.

excelforward said:

Sweet, I just finished this last month. Pretty damn good.
 

mephesta

Member
For the two people asking about "House of Leaves" I loved it. It has great visualization (at least my mind painted everything very well) and I really love the idea of the book.
 

ultron87

Member
mephesta said:
For the two people asking about "House of Leaves" I loved it. It has great visualization (at least my mind painted everything very well) and I really love the idea of the book.

I had mixed feelings about House of Leaves. The actual story about the house is fantastic and full of mystery and suspense. The framing story is boring and uninteresting and
unfortunately never ties in to the inner story at all, which is unfortunate considering there are a number of hooks that would suggest that this is what should happen.

Regardless of that the tricks it does with text layout to heighten the sense of tension and confusion are amazing.
 
BruceLeeRoy said:
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Not even half-way through it yet but I am loving every second of it. Such a breath of fresh air.

This book is so awesome. If you're halfway through, you haven't seen the good stuff yet. I wonder what you'll think of the ending which completely changes direction and goes way off course from what you're used to.

I loved the ending. My friend did not.
 
Fleet of Foot said:
This book is so awesome. If you're halfway through, you haven't seen the good stuff yet. I wonder what you'll think of the ending which completely changes direction and goes way off course from what you're used to.

I loved the ending. My friend did not.

I love anything that throws me off so I bet I will think its really great. Ill post back once I am done.
 

Exilexc

Banned
I'm planning on seeing the upcoming movie.
Found out there was a book and thought I should read it first..
It's always better right ? :D

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Schattenjagger said:
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Anybody read it? Worth it?

Depends on your expectations. If it's to be scared or unnerved, then I think you'll be disappointed. The book was a pain-in-the-ass to finish, both on the account that it was huge and for its unconventional method of story-telling which felt convoluted and slow, so I consumed it in itty-bitty chunks.
 

Salazar

Member
'Fortress Besieged' by Qian Zhongshu. Immensely funny and apparently revered novel about a Chinese anti-hero, who returns from abroad with a fake degree and gets himself into cascading woman-trouble.
 

soyboy

Junior Member
Flatmate got me a signed copy of Lethem's Chronic city for my Earth anniversary so reading that at the moment. Might re-read Camera Lucinda after that.
 

newsguy

Member
I just finished The Road and loved it. It took me about 80-100 pages to really warm up to it.

What should I read next!?!? I hear Lovely Bones is good. I kind of want to read Fight Club, I hear it's pretty different from the movie.
 
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