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[enbred]

Interesting article about how ebook sales are going down in the UK. It's great to see that there are so many choices in how to read tho right?

Ebook sales continue to fall as younger generations drive appetite for print

The Hoarding Instinct prevails.

I used to love paper then it fell out of fashion with me in my 20's. Now i'm almost 33 and i can only appreciate paper just for the reason that it allows me to rest my eyes from the screen a little bit. I would just avoid ultimatums like that generally. Why dispute over what's better when you can take what's best from both worlds, sometimes i could have the same book in my phone and on my bed stand if necessary.
Currently i'm reading:
1. The Better Angels Of Our Nature (Steven Pinker)
2. The Origin of Species
3. The Wise Man's Fear (Patrick Rothfuss)

 

[HotHamBoy]

Please post what you think of it when you're done! I thought A Fire Upon The Deep was really great (though I thought the ending let it down a very little) but I haven't read the second book yet.

So far, so good. The book is not a direct sequel, more of a prequel set thousands of years before. It lacks the urgency and scope of the first book and so far I've yet to find any of the characters as likeable and compelling as the oddly wonderful cast of AFUTD.

But it's still very entertaining.

I want to compare two other books I'm juggling because of how they use the form of their respective medium in inventive and effective ways.

House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski - A horror novel like I've never read before. A book about a book about a documentary about a house.

Jimmy Corrigan - The Smartest Kid On Earth by Chris Ware

 

[kswiston]

House of Leaves looks like something that would drive me nuts to read.

 

[Fuu]

House of Leaves looks like something that would drive me nuts to read.

For what it's worth it's not like that throughout the whole thing, those kinds of pages are used much more sparsely than what a first glance might imply. The majority of the novel is straightforward.

The story is intriguing and the structure of "book about a documentary with notes by someone else" is pretty cool. Loved my time with it.

 

[EverythingShiny]

I'm making my way through some of the free streaming audiobooks on Audible for Prime members - just finished People Who Eat Darkness which was interesting and now I'm listening to Robert Bloch's Psycho. I didn't even know this feature existed until a few days ago!

Hmm. Maybe I should give the second book a try. I don't tend to be a fan of space opera stuff in general though. Maybe the only series I like that falls into that genre is the Vorkosigan stuff.

You may just not enjoy it then because it pales in comparison to Vorkosigan. I do think better characters get introduced in book 2, so that helps a lot. I've found all the books start off slow and pick up speed as they go on. I can definitely see why some people wouldn't like the series!

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Your next read!

I first heard about it when Cat Valente said in an AMA—here—that if she could steal someone else's writing style and general ability, it would be like John Crowley circa Little, Big, and that it was his favorite book. I always like reading books that authors I like have given high praise to, and I'd never heard of him or the book, even from other "genre" writers, so it's been on my radar since I read that. I'm just now getting around to it (about a third of the way through) and it's absolutely lovely.

This is a good read. It doesn't tell you much about what it is about, but they should tell you if it sounds like something you'd like.

Oh my god I love Little, Big so much. That and Charles de Lint's The Little Country are so good.

 

[Rug Monkey]

Oh my god I love Little, Big so much. That and Charles de Lint's The Little Country are so good.

I love Little, Big too, a truly wonderful book. That, and Alasdair Gray's Lanark, will always be in my all time favourites list.

 

[TwntyOneTwlv]

House of Leaves looks like something that would drive me nuts to read.

It's so worth it though. Most of the book is laid out normally. When the pages get weird, you know some insane shit is going down.

 

[Ratrat]

Huh. Can I ask what SF you have enjoyed?

Recently, I enjoyed Quantum Thief and Embassytown. Most of the stuff I prefer is quite older

I guess the question is whether you enjoy what is considered "hard scifi" (think Alastiar Reynolds) vs. "space opera." I think Leviathan Wakes and Old Man's War fall more into the space opera (i.e., Star Wars) kind of sub-genre.

Eh, the Culture series, Vorkosigan and several others are pretty light hearted adventure stories. They still manage to feel original or have interesting things to say.

 

[dakini]

Finished

Started

 

[Haly]

Do you recommend it?

I'm not sure yet I'll back to you if I ever finish it.

 

[JonnyKong]

I once let somebody at work borrow my copy of House of Leaves and I never got it back I'm still trauamatised four years later.

 

[lawnchair]

Interesting article about how ebook sales are going down in the UK. It's great to see that there are so many choices in how to read tho right?

Ebook sales continue to fall as younger generations drive appetite for print

this pleases me.

 

[arkon]

Interesting article about how ebook sales are going down in the UK. It's great to see that there are so many choices in how to read tho right?

Ebook sales continue to fall as younger generations drive appetite for print

Ebook pricing probably played a part. It certainly does for me. I'm primarily an ebook person these days and I don't buy those ebooks that are often priced as high (or even higher than) the physical books. The only exceptions are the ones in the Amazon Matchbook scheme. Also I think the most I've paid for an ebook is £4.99. I'd probably be willing to go higher but only in select cases.

 

[Dec]

They also mention adult colouring books being a main reason.

 

[lawnchair]

They also mention adult colouring books being a main reason.

this confuses me.

 

[kswiston]

I finished All of the Pretty Horses by Cormac McCarthy yesterday. An excellent novel. It also makes me want to read up on the Mexican revolutionary war. I will eventually read the rest of the border trilogy, but I am not in a rush.

I am going to read A Wizard of Earthsea next.

 

[npm0925]

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - filled with sexism (due to it being written in the 1960s or because the fictional lunar sex ratio is 2:1 M:F, I don't know), terrorism (just got to the part where the lunar conspirators plan to hurl asteroids at the Earth because they are upset about their tax rate), and deus ex machina (a supercomputer named Mike is able to Konami code his way through whatever problems crop up). I'm not enjoying it but will continue (albeit slowly) because it is widely considered a classic of science fiction.

 

[kswiston]

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress - filled with sexism

I don't think the depicted society counts as sexist. A lot of the social dynamics that lead to sexism in a male dominated society don't exist there. Women hold ultimate power in relationships/family matters, and are mostly treated as equal participants in social/political fields. The wolf whistle stuff seems weird, but it is treated being respectful in that culture due to the history of extremely lopsided sex ratios.

Some of the writing/dialog might be a bit sexist (or at least gender conformist), but it was the 1960s as you said.

 

[DyslexicAlucard]

So Enemy at the Gates is $2 on Kindle today. Anyone have an opinion on it? I love the film adaptation, so I'm thinking of picking it up.

Also, I discovered that a graphic novel I talked about here recently, Bad Island, has a right-wing, bigoted creator -- Doug TenNapel. Oh well, at least I bought it used at a thrift store, so he got no money from me!

It's too bad though, as I loved Earthworm Jim as a kid.

 

[brawly]

So, an early impression of the Kindle Paperwhite: gamechanger.

As a "situational reader" (as I like to call myself), I generally read while commuting, before bed or outside. The first two I've had a chance to test and it's sooo much better than with a book. The fact that you don't have to hold the Kindle with both hands or can put it on your lap is huge. There's usually a perfect brightness setting that makes it look like an actual page and that's exactly what I use.

I've already gathered up most of my physical books and I'm planning to sell them.

 

[Haly]

I feel like the Kindle is similar to SSDs, and to a lesser extent mechanical keyboards. It's hard to convey just what an improvement it can be, but firsthand experience is typically always positive.

 

[Pau]

Your next read!

I first heard about it when Cat Valente said in an AMA—here—that if she could steal someone else's writing style and general ability, it would be like John Crowley circa Little, Big, and that it was his favorite book. I always like reading books that authors I like have given high praise to, and I'd never heard of him or the book, even from other "genre" writers, so it's been on my radar since I read that. I'm just now getting around to it (about a third of the way through) and it's absolutely lovely.

This is a good read. It doesn't tell you much about what it is about, but they should tell you if it sounds like something you'd like.

Weird to really enjoy an author's work but not care for their favorite novel that they wish they could emulate.

 

[hampig]

Just bought a paperwhite this morning because of this thread. I had a keyboard some years ago, but the lack of light made it sort of useless to me. Really excited to give the paperwhite a try.

 

[Ravensmash]

I don't think I like Broken Angels (Richard Morgan) as much as the previous novel...

Its less sci fi action and more lets talk about feelings and technobabble.

Edit: And none of the characters at this stage (approaching two thirds through) have any real characterisation other than their names being different.

 

[Mumei]

Weird to really enjoy an author's work but not care for their favorite novel that they wish they could emulate.

I had to read this like five times because I couldn't comprehend your not liking Little, Big.

 

[Psychotic_Mantis]

About to start

Anyone read this one recently?[/QUOTE

I read this late last year - I hope you have a strong stomach. The subject matter is extremely dark - a few times, I had to put the book down and take a walk - but I never felt like the author was adding extra depravity for shock value. The writing is effective enough to where you can see through the eyes of the teenage narrator in the weird cocktail of confusion, giddiness and powerlessness that comes at that age, even when the situation continues to devolve.

For me, I couldn't stop reading it and finished it in about 2 nights. Let me know what you think!

Just finished this. Man...you weren't kidding. Extremely effective writing! I felt dirty at times and wanted to take a shower. I feel like it's a really good book that you don't necessarily want to recommend to anyone. I went through quite a few emotions in this. Anger, fear, sadness, confusion, it really was a solid read.

Have you read anything else by this guy?

I'm back to reading a few chapters of World War Z. I find I like it better when I read a snippet here and there. Didn't care for it the first time I picked it up.

 

[elhav]

Been ploughing through the Witcher books, and they are great.

Currently at Baptism Of Fire, and digging it quite a bit.

Time Of Contempt is perhaps my favourite one so far, but all books are good in my eyes.

 

[aravuus]

I only got like one and a half books into the main storyline, but I think I liked the short stories the best. Nice air of mystery to all of them, really nice reads. Would love to read more stuff like that.

In fact, maybe I should read more short stories in general. Short 20-30 min reads would be perfect for whenever I'm having trouble sleeping or something. I remember really liking the two I've read from Gaiman's Trigger Warning, should read the rest too.

 

[Funyarinpa]

I only got like one and a half books into the main storyline, but I think I liked the short stories the best. Nice air of mystery to all of them, really nice reads. Would love to read more stuff like that.

In fact, maybe I should read more short stories in general. Short 20-30 min reads would be perfect for whenever I'm having trouble sleeping or something. I remember really liking the two I've read from Gaiman's Trigger Warning, should read the rest too.

Murakami's "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman" has pleasingly short stories.

 

[Fuu]

I only got like one and a half books into the main storyline, but I think I liked the short stories the best. Nice air of mystery to all of them, really nice reads. Would love to read more stuff like that.

In fact, maybe I should read more short stories in general. Short 20-30 min reads would be perfect for whenever I'm having trouble sleeping or something. I remember really liking the two I've read from Gaiman's Trigger Warning, should read the rest too.

Among the ones I read recently I really enjoyed The Paper Menagerie and Other Stories (Ken Liu) and Jagannath (Karin Tidbeck). Both anthologies can go to darker places, but they're still good picks for bedtime reading imo.

Gaiman's Smoke and Mirrors and Fragile Things are excellent reads too.

 

[rugioh]

Finished: The Dry

Good read, nice writing, decent story. Seems this is going to be a series, will pick up the next one also.

Now reading: Pilot X

Just started this yesterday, about a pilot who can travel through time and has ended the universe or something.

Man shoutout to you. Was just lurking this thread and picked up The Dry, 8 chapters in and already hooked. Any other books in that kind of genre anyone could recommend? Really good thriller type mysteries?

 

[Necrovex]

Completed a biography on Bill Clinton's Presidency, written by John Harris. A fantastic read about a man I barely knew about except for the Monica scandal, clearing the deficit, and the Camp David situation. Now I'm moving onto Obama's memoir, Dreams From My Father.

I also plan to read the first volume of Outbreak and Papergirls.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

For anyone interested in playing along with the Writing-GAF Challenge 2017 (in which a novella is written every month for the first three months, but in which I'm writing one per month for the full year), I have made Knight Ardent (the 2nd Entry) free today and for the next five days:

Knight Ardent: The Second Entry in the Knight's Journal

 

[MilkBeard]

Been ploughing through the Witcher books, and they are great.

Currently at Baptism Of Fire, and digging it quite a bit.

Time Of Contempt is perhaps my favourite one so far, but all books are good in my eyes.

Picked up Last Wish. Gonna read it soon, probably one of the next few books I will read.

 

[EverythingShiny]

Man shoutout to you. Was just lurking this thread and picked up The Dry, 8 chapters in and already hooked. Any other books in that kind of genre anyone could recommend? Really good thriller type mysteries?

I'll have to check out The Dry - that looks great. As for other thrillers, recently I enjoyed Before the Fall by Noah Hawley. If you want a crime thriller/mystery series, I thought the Dublin Murder Squad books by Tana French were pretty good.

 

[Kyleripman]

So I just finished this:

I need to talk about that ending. I don't mind

Spoiler

cliffhangers or leaving things to the reader's imagination, but that seriously felt like an arbitrary termination of a plot that was still developing. Logen's on the run, Jezal is a weak puppet with flashes of something more, West is doomed, Ardee is married to Glokta but seems...happy? And Glokta gonna Glokta I guess. It feels like the entire trilogy's plot went nowhere. Or that it was still at the halfway point. Maybe that's the point, but it was really unsatisfying.

Most of the twists didn't do much for me. It was fairly obvious that the apprentice Quai had been "turned" for a long time before the reveal. I appreciate Bayaz not being a benevolent Gandalf-type of ageless wizard, but I get the feeling that it was supposed to be more surprising than it was. I actually liked the reveal that Pike was someone we already knew, but what could've been a very cool little revenge arc was squandered at the last second when he chose to let Glokta live.

Regarding characters, I'm cool with

Spoiler

morally ambiguous characters, and I don't need them to be redeemed by the end of the story. But man, fuck Glokta.

If that sounds like I'm down on the books, I'm really not...I enjoyed reading them. Are the spinoff books any good?

 

[kswiston]

So I just finished this:

I need to talk about that ending. I don't mind

Spoiler

cliffhangers or leaving things to the reader's imagination, but that seriously felt like an arbitrary termination of a plot that was still developing. Logen's on the run, Jezal is a weak puppet with flashes of something more, West is doomed, Ardee is married to Glokta but seems...happy? And Glokta gonna Glokta I guess. It feels like the entire trilogy's plot went nowhere. Or that it was still at the halfway point. Maybe that's the point, but it was really unsatisfying.

Most of the twists didn't do much for me. It was fairly obvious that the apprentice Quai had been "turned" for a long time before the reveal. I appreciate Bayaz not being a benevolent Gandalf-type of ageless wizard, but I get the feeling that it was supposed to be more surprising than it was. I actually liked the reveal that Pike was someone we already knew, but what could've been a very cool little revenge arc was squandered at the last second when he chose to let Glokta live.

Regarding characters, I'm cool with

Spoiler

morally ambiguous characters, and I don't need them to be redeemed by the end of the story. But man, fuck Glokta.

If that sounds like I'm down on the books, I'm really not...I enjoyed reading them. Are the spinoff books any good?

A lot of the plot points are continued in the spin-off books, even if they tend to focus on new main characters. I think that the main trilogy works better if you equate it to an arc of a manga or comic series. It isn't meant to be the final word on that world, or even those characters.

I ended up getting my dad and my two brothers into the series.I think all of them really enjoyed the spinoff titles. Best Served cold is a cross between a revenge story and a super dysfunctional Oceans 11. The cast is mostly new, aside from 3 minor characters from the first trilogy (who are all pretty great).

The Heroes looks at the new status quo between the North and the Union. The entire book takes place over something like 4 days, and largely deals with a skirmish between the Union and the North over some meaningless scrap of land. One of Bethod's sons gets quite a bit of characterization, and isn't the cartoon villain he was in the original books.

Red Country is basically a western where the lead characters are trying to get back some stolen children. I don't want to elaborate much more than that.

The stand-alone books are set 3, 8, and 15 years after the close of Last Argument of Kings. You get hints on what is going on behind the scene, and they set up the status quo of the next trilogy that is currently being written.

 

[Dec]

Picked up Last Wish. Gonna read it soon, probably one of the next few books I will read.

You should definitely read through the actual series also. Last Wish is just short stories.

 

[Kyleripman]

A lot of the plot points are continued in the spin-off books, even if they tend to focus on new main characters. I think that the main trilogy works better if you equate it to an arc of a manga or comic series. It isn't meant to be the final word on that world, or even those characters.

I ended up getting my dad and my two brothers into the series.I think all of them really enjoyed the spinoff titles. Best Served cold is a cross between a revenge story and a super dysfunctional Oceans 11. The cast is mostly new, aside from 3 minor characters from the first trilogy (who are all pretty great).

The Heroes looks at the new status quo between the North and the Union. The entire book takes place over something like 4 days, and largely deals with a skirmish between the Union and the North over some meaningless scrap of land. One of Bethod's sons gets quite a bit of characterization, and isn't the cartoon villain he was in the original books.

Red Country is basically a western where the lead characters are trying to get back some stolen children. I don't want to elaborate much more than that.

The stand-alone books are set 3, 8, and 15 years after the close of Last Argument of Kings. You get hints on what is going on behind the scene, and they set up the status quo of the next trilogy that is currently being written.

Well that sounds a lot better than I expected, Red Country in particular. And I had no idea that another trilogy was coming. Maybe some of my concerns will be addressed. Good stuff!

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Well that sounds a lot better than I expected, Red Country in particular. And I had no idea that another trilogy was coming. Maybe some of my concerns will be addressed. Good stuff!

I love this world and can't wait for Abercrombie to return to it.

 

[TwntyOneTwlv]

Finished A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms a few days ago

Started Good Omens yesterday

 

[Magus1234]

As I am finishing a book I got to thinking that I want to read something more modern. For whatever reason I have not ventured into modernism much, anyone have any recommendations for fiction from the past 50 years? Preferably not Scifi. Some Authors I have read,

Cormac McCarthy - Somewhat liked.
Atwood - Liked
Murakami - Not really liked.
Kazuo Ishiguro - OK

 

[Mumei]

As I am finishing a book I got to thinking that I want to read something more modern. For whatever reason I have not ventured into modernism much, anyone have any recommendations for fiction from the past 50 years? Preferably not Scifi. Some Authors I have read,

Cormac McCarthy - Somewhat liked.
Atwood - Liked
Murakami - Not really liked.
Kazuo Ishiguro - OK

Going through my Goodreads list, books that I have liked that are fiction and are not science fiction (though some fantasy), by publication, and skipping Murakami and young adultish stuff; a few short story collections include stuff that is over 50 years old but I'm sure you'll live:

• What Belongs to You, by Garth Greenwell (2016)
• The Complete Stories, by Clarice Lispector (published 2015; stories from 1950s-ish on)
• The Fishermen, by Chigozie Obioma (2015)
• A Little Life, by Hanya Yanagihara (2015)
• Satin Island, by Tom McCarthy (2015)
• A Spool of Blue Thread, by Anne Tyler (2015)
• The Illuminations, by Andrew O'Hagan (2015)
• A Brief History of Seven Killings, by Marlon James (2014)
• Dead Endings, by Jessica Chavez (neogaf author plug xoxo) (2014)
• Wolf in White Van, by John Darnielle (2014)
• The Moor's Account, by Laila Lalami (2014)
• A Girl is a Half-Formed Thing, by Eimear McBride (2013)
• Americanah, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2013)
• There Once Lived a Girl Who Seduced Her Sister's Husband, and He Hanged Himself: Love Stories, by Ludmilla Petrushevskaya (see Lispector) (2013)
• The People in the Trees, by Hanya Yanagihara (2013)
• We the Animals, by Justin Torres (2011)
• Death by Water, by Kenzaburō Oe (2010)
• The Lost Daughter, by Elena Ferrante (2008)
• Seiobo There Below, by László Krasznahorkai (2008)
• The Man Who Spoke Snakish, by Andrus Kivirähk (it's fantastical but it reads more mythic than like fantasy soooo I'm fudging it) (2007)
• Call Me by Your Name, by André Aciman (2007)
• The Road, by Cormac McCarthy (2006)
• The Plot Against America, by Philip Roth (2004)
• A Time for Everything, by Karl Ove Knausgård (2004)
• The True Story of Hansel and Gretel, by Louise Murphy (2003)
• Purple Hibiscus, by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (2003)
• When the Emperor Was Divine, by Julie Otsuka (2002)
• The Complete Cosmicomics, by Italo Calvino (1997; various stories published post-1950something)
• CivilWarLand in Bad Decline, by George Saunders (1996)
• The Alienist, by Caleb Carr (1994)
• Troubling Love, by Elena Ferrante (1992)
• The Safety of Objects: Stories, by A.M. Homes (1990)
• Jack, by A.M. Homes (1989)
• Kitchen, by Banana Yoshimoto (1988)
• Beloved, by Toni Morrison (1987)
• The Handmaid's Tale, by Margaret Atwood (1986)
• Love in the Time of Cholera, by Gabriel Garcia Márquez (1985)
• Satantango, by László Krasznahorkai (1985)
• Rouse Up O Young Men of the New Age!, by Kenzaburō Oe (1983)
• Chronicle of a Death Foretold, by Gabriel Garcia Márquez (1981)
• If on a Winter's Night a Traveler, by Italo Calvino (1979)
• Song of Solomon, by Toni Morrison (1977)
• Gravity's Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon (1973)
• Invisible Cities, by Italo Calvino (1972)
• Augustus, by John Williams (1972)
• Transparent Things, by Vladimir Nabokov (1972)
• The Bluest Eye, by Toni Morrison (1970)

I went a bit broad, including even things that I liked but didn't really like. But maybe you would like them more, so I stuck them in anyway. Doing this exercise was interesting. I have some major gaps there!

I also made a separate list with fantasy if you're interested. I wasn't sure if you wanted to avoid genre fiction generally or just specifically sci-fi.

 

[AlteredBeast]

I tried to read Stephen King's The Stand multiple times and never got passed the first couple hundred pages or so. I am proud to say I am about 400 pages in, lol!

This will be the third-longest book I have read, after the Bible and Atlas Shrugged (yikes to that one, but I had to finish it once I started!), and probably ever will again. It really is quite powerful what good fiction can do to a person. The Superflu (Captain Tripps) in this book has me constantly worried any time I see anyone coughing or sneezing. It has really seeped into my subconscious!

 

[JonnyKong]

I'll have to check out The Dry - that looks great. As for other thrillers, recently I enjoyed Before the Fall by Noah Hawley. If you want a crime thriller/mystery series, I thought the Dublin Murder Squad books by Tana French were pretty good.

Count me in as somebody who has just started reading The Dry, yay book club!

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

I tried to read Stephen King's The Stand multiple times and never got passed the first couple hundred pages or so. I am proud to say I am about 400 pages in, lol!

This will be the third-longest book I have read, after the Bible and Atlas Shrugged (yikes to that one, but I had to finish it once I started!), and probably ever will again. It really is quite powerful what good fiction can do to a person. The Superflu (Captain Tripps) in this book has me constantly worried any time I see anyone coughing or sneezing. It has really seeped into my subconscious!

Haha, I had the same experience, particularly reading the book in the NYC subway during wintertime. I swear, EVERYONE around me seem sicker than usual.

 

[Maklershed]

Well dang, if everyone else is gonna read The Dry I wanna read it too. Perhaps that will be next after I finish the book I'm currently reading.

 

[Funyarinpa]

Risking a Murakami burnout, but I think after finishing Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman and Utopia, I'll buy 1Q84.

Edit: 1Q84 or Hard-boiled Wonderland?

 

[elhav]

Risking a Murakami burnout, but I think after finishing Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman and Utopia, I'll buy 1Q84.

Edit: 1Q84 or Hard-boiled Wonderland?

I've been told that 1Q84 is really really good. I've read a bit of Hard boiled wonderland and...Not sure what to think about it. It's not bad, but it's too bizarre for my current taste.

Granted, it's the only Murakami book I've ever tried, so I don't know if all of his books are like that. Maybe in a few years I'll appreciate it better.