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[badcrumble]

Embassytown, China Mieville -

Odd SF from a writer of monsters and grotesques. Loved the premise and the world and although I was dissatisfied with a few of the elements in the book, it was still a great read.

Embassytown was amazing, yeah. In my opinion, it's up there with Iron Council as one of his best and smartest books.

 

[sazabirules]

No, nothing since Iron Council has been set in Bas-Lag.

Thanks I wasn't sure since I've only read Perdido Street Station and The Scar.

 

[Qwomo]

I got 1Q84 for Christmas. My first Murakami book.

Anyway, subscribing for the good book recommendations. I don't think I've read any books published this year. (Last year?)

 

[LProtag]

See, 1Q84 was my favorite book of the year.

Yes it's something of a departure from his other works (I really missed the first person narration), but I love the self-referentiality of it. It's not hard to pick up on the fact that the book is about the power of books/stories themselves, with the obvious example of Fuka-Eri's book causing so much trouble and the

Spoiler

somewhat obvious hints that the entire story of the book is the book Tengo has been writing

. Though of course that's just my personal interpretation.

I don't think it knocks Wind-Up Bird Chronicle out as my favorite Murakami book, but it's up there with it, along with Kafka on the Shore, Hard-Boiled Wonderland, and Norwegian Wood. I'd say those are my solid top 5 of his.

 

[thomaser]

See, 1Q84 was my favorite book of the year.

His books are weird creatures. Some love them to obsession, others think they are downright bad. They are often flawed, and can be repetitive and boring. I'm a huge fan of his, but still think his books are far from perfect on technical levels. They just resonate with me (and other people I know) like few other books do. Perhaps it's a generational thing.

I have no problem with the op not liking 1Q84, by the way - I just don't agree that there's a general perception of decline in the quality of Murakami's works, which the op seemed to imply.

 

[FL4TW4V3]

I'm embarrassed to admit the only new book I've read in 2011 was Ready Player One. Thankfully it's a great book.

 

[way more]

I didn't read much else from 2011 this year but this would still likely go to the top.

 

[LProtag]

His books are weird creatures. Some love them to obsession, others think they are downright bad. They are often flawed, and can be repetitive and boring. I'm a huge fan of his, but still think his books are far from perfect on technical levels. They just resonate with me (and other people I know) like few other books do. Perhaps it's a generational thing.

I have no problem with the op not liking 1Q84, by the way - I just don't agree that there's a general perception of decline in the quality of Murakami's works, which the op seemed to imply.

It's funny because the top paragraph is basically everyone's reaction in the book to Air Chrysalis.

Anyway all books are flawed, I don't think there's ever going to be a perfect book, so I go by what, as you put it, resonates with me the most. I'm also interested in if a book is open to literary criticism easily, and I think 1Q84 has some really interesting things to say about the power of stories and books.

I can see why people don't like 1Q84 though, it did drag in places and sometimes stagnated.

 

[Witchfinder General]

Does it have a lot of common ground with The Black Swan, which also deals with our inability to predict?

To a degree, but rather than arguing that people can't predict at all the book instead looks at what we're good at predicting, how predictions work and the fact that most professionals are no better at predictions than you or me.

 

[coldvein]

So it's a bit better than Infinite Jest, then?

gtfo.gif

infinite jest is the best book ever written.

 

[Red]

I thought 1Q84 was the worst book I read this year. The first two sections are good, and then it all turns to shit by the end. For like a week afterward I kept trying to justify reading it to myself, trying to convince myself it maybe was supposed to be a postmodern experiment or something, but I can't live with that. It seems unfinished. There's nothing left at the end but loose ends.

The last, I don't know, maybe three chapters all read like a dream, reminds me a bit of the ending to Taxi Driver after Bickle is shot.

I also had a problem with how so much of the book focuses on the fact that its main characters are not doing anything. Inaction is almost never interesting.

 

[LProtag]

I thought 1Q84 was the worst book I read this year. The first two sections are good, and then it all turns to shit by the end. For like a week afterward I kept trying to justify reading it to myself, trying to convince myself it maybe was supposed to be a postmodern experiment or something, but I can't live with that. It seems unfinished. There's nothing left at the end but loose ends.

The last, I don't know, maybe three chapters all read like a dream, reminds me a bit of the ending to Taxi Driver after Bickle is shot.

I also had a problem with how so much of the book focuses on the fact that its main characters are not doing anything. Inaction is almost never interesting.

Is this your first Murakami?

 

[_Isaac]

It seems like all I hear about The Pale King is how boring it is.

 

[Baby Milo]

Doesn't help either that he is planning on writing prequel and fourth novel to the saga.

that sounds awesome to me.I really enjoyed the book.

i guess im on the love 1Q84 side.

 

[Dresden]

It seems like all I hear about The Pale King is how boring it is.

It's pretty fucking boring.

 

[AAequal]

Is this your first Murakami?

Even if it is, is it so wrong to want actual closure? I have read all major works from Murakami and yet I felt ripped-off, so many open endings again? I concur with CiSTM about 1Q84, it's among Murakami's worst and the whole parallel world thing is getting old. Trying to do something new every now and then won't kill you. I do like most of Murakami's work but 1Q84 lacks a lot.

It seems like all I hear about The Pale King is how boring it is.

Pale King is story dealing with boredom. You have to be huge DFW fanboy to really appreciate it tho. It's clearly unfinished work and then some. Pale King feels like it's some kind of note book with ideas and routes that the finished novel would eventually take. As it is now it lacks direction and coherent style of Mr. DFW. It's nice to read what one of my favorite writers had in mind but on the other hand I feel like it would have been better if PK remained unpublished.

 

[Goody]

It may have been published at the tail end of 2010, but anyone who doesn't have a copy of Long, Last, Happy by Barry Hannah has an incomplete library.

Lime Creek by Joe Henry was an absolutely beautiful piece of writing that really, truly grew on me months after reading it.

Nightwoods by Charles Frazier may not be as ambitious as Cold Mountain or Thirteen Moons but is an arguably better book because of that.

 

[CarbonatedFalcon]

Must read for gamers (at least!) Interesting enough for anyone else. Some neat positive psychology stuff in there too.

 

[Monocle]

I was always an Oz fan, especially of the Witch, and I read it before anyone paid attention to it. Hell, the only people I heard talking about the book were the magazine of Fantasy and Science Fiction who gave it a highly positive review.

When I read it, it quickly became my favorite book of all time. It was seriously that good.

I don't think it ever became an Oprah book, but when the musical arrived and became huge I groaned loudly, feeling like something personal and awesome to me was being taken and turned into something it wasn't.

But the four books, if you disregard how popular it is in the musical audience, are solid, fantastic books. They never dropped in quality though it could be argued Wicked was the best, but none of them were less than "very good".

I can't recommend them enough. Maguire is dark, and funny, and writes beautiful prose and you start to love his characters as much as the classic characters who reside near them.

Seconded. I love these books.

 

[Maklershed]

Nightwoods by Charles Frazier may not be as ambitious as Cold Mountain or Thirteen Moons but is an arguably better book because of that.

That's next up on my list after I finish Devil in the White City.

 

[Quake1028]

1.11/22/63 by Stephen King
2.The Naked Dame by Jason Bovberg
3.Fun and Games by Duane Swierczynski
4.Night of Wolves (The Paladins #1) by David Dalglish
5.The Affair by Lee Child
6.Ready Player One by Ernest Cline
7.Robopocalypse by Daniel H. Wilson
8.Bossypants by Tina Fey
9.SEAL Team Six: Memoirs of an Elite Navy SEAL Sniper by Howard E. Wasdin, Stephen Templin
10.The Deputy by Victor Gischler

 

[Red]

Is this your first Murakami?

No. But it will probably be my last.

 

[Snowman Prophet of Doom]

So it's a bit better than Infinite Jest, then?

I got 40 pages into IJ before saying, "Fuck it; there's literally no way that I'll enjoy this, find any value in it, or do anything with it other than make snarky comments about it on GAF." I keep looking for the value that other people seem to find in David Foster Wallace, yet all I ever seem to come away with is over-descriptive prose, masturbation, and the boredom of Academia that I already endure everyday.

I haven't read The Pale King, but I'm going to make the general comment that if you defend a boring work on the grounds that it's about boredom, you're doing it wrong.

 

[teruterubozu]

Murakami is easily the most mentioned author on GAF, but wow at the negativity over IQ84. Must be real crap.

 

[Tim the Wiz]

Going to be boring and say DWD. Haven't read Pale King, Embassytown or 11/22/63 (which is friendly, I hear, to us Tower fans) yet. Otherwise, not too many revelations for me in the Steve Jobs bio, but that's more my fault.

Everything else I read was pre-2011.

If they said Pyncho wrote himself out from the Nobel Award by writing Inherent Vice then I can't imagine what this book has done to Murakami's reputation as a writer. Doesn't help either that he is planning on writing prequel and fourth novel to the saga.

lolwut

Book of the decade (or maybe, no definitely, more):

Future Babble - Dan Gardner

...

THIS IS MANDATORY READING FOR EVERY PERSON ON THE PLANET!!!!

I really should do a thread on this book.

Best thing to come out of this thread.

 

[Maklershed]

That Future Babble book sounds interesting. Added to my cart.

 

[marrec]

Terry Pratchett seems to win for me every year.

Snuff was fantastic, as was 'I Shall Wear Midnight'.

Although, I Shall Wear Midnight came out last year in September, I wasn't able to read it until this year.

 

[rjfs]

Good advice. I was about to read IQ84 but you dissuaded me from it. I'm actually getting sick of Murakami and his parallel world schtick. In fact, I think he's a better short story writer than a full on novel writer. "Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman" is his last good work.

Ouch. I just got IQ84 for Christmas and all these reviews are making it harder for me to crack it.

 

[GSR]

Must read for gamers (at least!) Interesting enough for anyone else. Some neat positive psychology stuff in there too.

Took a course on games and education this semester and while we didn't read this book in its whole we read excerpts and looked at some of McGonigal's other work. A really fascinating subject.

Haven't done a whole lot of reading this year, but three that stick out in my mind are The Windup Girl (a 2009 book, but didn't get around to it 'til this year), Deadline (sequel to Feed; both are zombie novels set in an interesting post-zombie society where zombies and infection are taken as necessary evils and social media and reporting have become extremely important), and The Wise Man's Fear (sequel to The Name of the Wind - excellent fantasy by Patrick Rothfuss).

 

[rjfs]

Thinking about this post made me realize something. Most of the books I read this year that were also released this year were among my least favorite. I think the passage of time forces the best books to stand out, but I never really thought about it this way before. So anyway my top 10 book I read this year, regardless of date of publication....

1- The Black Swan (nothing to do with the movie) - Discusses the impact of the improbable. Even if you normally shy away fro non-fiction you might really enjoy this.
2- Full Dark No Stars - I hadn't read Stephne King for years but this is one bad ass short story collection.
3- Blood Meridian - I think I always avoided this because I don't like westerns. Don't let that put you off.
4- The Devil in the White City - Non fiction but reads like a novel. Infinitely better than Larson's followup which came out this year.
5- The Big Short - Excellent story from Michael Lewis and almost makes up for the weakness of boomerang which was released this year.
6- The Little Stranger - I liked this more than I think the average person will. Still a great little ghost story.
7- Asylum - Weird story but very enjoyable.
8- Twilight (NOT the shiny Vampire one) - Very dark story from William Gay. Gets a bit slow in the middle but starts as creepy as anything.
9- Griftopia - Depressing but highly entertaining.
10 - Everythings Eventual - Full dark got me back into King's short stories.

 

[marrec]

Took a course on games and education this semester and while we didn't read this book in its whole we read excerpts and looked at some of McGonigal's other work. A really fascinating subject.

Haven't done a whole lot of reading this year, but three that stick out in my mind are The Windup Girl (a 2009 book, but didn't get around to it 'til this year), Deadline (sequel to Feed; both are zombie novels set in an interesting post-zombie society where zombies and infection are taken as necessary evils and social media and reporting have become extremely important), and The Wise Man's Fear (sequel to The Name of the Wind - excellent fantasy by Patrick Rothfuss).

My main problem with McGonigal is that she doesn't give enough credit to the pioneers of the idea of Reality Gaming. The fact that Dave Szulborski wasn't mentioned in the book makes me very sad.

Other then that it's a pretty great read.