Support NeoGAF

[Pau]

On a Sci-Fi kick. Finished Rocannon's World, which was nice and short. Even if it's Le Guin's first novel and falls a bit more into the standard fantasy/sci fi hero's story, you can definitely already see the themes she develops more in her later novels.

Started:

 

[Monroeski]

I've read about half of Ready Player One already. Such a page turner. Perfect for anyone growing up in the 80s as there are so many references. I don't know if it's the Neuromamcer of it's generation, but it's certainly a great book.

I hope there was some sarcasm here that I missed because the idea that a book of nostalgia lists with a Mary Sue protagonist is anywhere near the level of a book that practically created an entire genre is insulting to me.

 

[Guileless]

Anyone? Also, a recommendation of a book about the Clinton presidency (or biography I suppose) would be appreciated.

Biography: First In His Class by David Maraniss

Presidency: For Love of Politics by Sally Bedell Smith

 

[Keen]

Been reading thru the Dresden Files, up to book 6 now. Wonder why I waited so long!

 

[Arment]

I've seen so many people read this book over the last couple years but my library never had it. So when I got my kindle it was one of the first I had to get.

I'm about 8 chapters in. Really great characters so far. I have no idea what the story is about as I didn't even read the summary.

I would like it if he made a sequel to this book and just made a new Mistborn trilogy out of it.

From what I've read he plans on doing three trilogys consisting of present, past and future. Not sure which of the three the original trilogy was but I'm guessing present. He also said that the newer book was not part of either planned trilogy.

 

[aidan]

From what I've read he plans on doing three trilogys consisting of present, past and future. Not sure which of the three the original trilogy was but I'm guessing present. He also said that the newer book was not part of either planned trilogy.

The published trilogy is the 'past.' The next trilogy will be an Urban Fantasy, set in a world similar to our own, and the final trilogy will be science fiction.

 

[Tawney Bomb]

Just started reading Leviathan Wakes a few days ago. Haven't read any sci-fi, but after the third chapter of this, I was hooked.

 

[nakedsushi]

Over the holiday I finished:


Rules of Civility by Amor Towles
Great book. It's like The Great Gatsby in terms of time setting, but with characters that don't suck. It has memorable passages like this one:

Because when some incident sheds a favorable light on an old and absent friend, that's about as good a gift as chance intends to offer.

Then read my first BDSM romance:

Fifty Shades of Grey by E.L. James
Not bad, other than the Lizzie McGuire self conscience parts.

Still making my slow way through:

Pandora's Star by Peter F. Hamilton
It reminds me a little of Battlestar, and a little of Firefly, which is great because I love both. It's just a little slow to start.

 

[Arment]

The published trilogy is the 'past.' The next trilogy will be an Urban Fantasy, set in a world similar to our own, and the final trilogy will be science fiction.

Nice I like the idea of that.

 

[BrokenFiction]

Just started Reamde by Neal Stephenson. Haven't read anything of his since Cryptonomicon, so looking forward to this:

 

[ymmv]

Finished the first book in the series yesterday, on to the second book.

The book is not about King Alfred but about a ruthless Anglo-Saxon warrior who was raised by Danish vikings and through circumstances finds himself back supporting the West Saxon King Alfred in order to get his stolen land back. Lots of fun, especially when Uhtred Ragnarson has to deal with the pious King and corrupt monks. Bernard Cornwell dedicates the book to George MacDonald Fraser and it's obvious why, because this series is in the same spirit as the Flashman books.

 

[MikeTyson]

I'm reading the highly acclaimed Hunger Games.

 

[elrechazado]

Just started Reamde by Neal Stephenson. Haven't read anything of his since Cryptonomicon, so looking forward to this:

You should read anathem if you're a fan of his.

 

[MilesWebber]

I just started The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo. Very LTTP.

This book is boring as fuck so far. I'm not too far in, and I assume it gets better..right? I mean there's a whole lot of exposition about this court case involving Swedish/german corporate embezzlement that is so dry. I don't think the translation helps much either. Now I'm reading financial jargon mixed with Swedish words and I just have to put it down periodically.

However I just finished Damned by Chuck Phaliniuk. Highly enjoyable and twisted. The third act is one of my favorites in recent memory.

Aso reading the short novel "Help! A bear is eating me!". I've never hated a main character so much before. Fantastic little story.

 

[coldvein]

on book one of Vladimir Sorokin's Ice Trilogy. this thing is slow going. anybody else read it by any chance?

 

[sparky2112]

on book one of Vladimir Sorokin's Ice Trilogy. this thing is slow going. anybody else read it by any chance?

Want to. Haven't gotten to it yet. I'd love to read every one of those NYRB Classics....

 

[hamchan]

From what I've read he plans on doing three trilogys consisting of present, past and future. Not sure which of the three the original trilogy was but I'm guessing present. He also said that the newer book was not part of either planned trilogy.

The published trilogy is the 'past.' The next trilogy will be an Urban Fantasy, set in a world similar to our own, and the final trilogy will be science fiction.

Sounds good. I really like the characters in Alloy of Law and the Western-like feel though, so it's a shame if he doesn't make more set in this period. Also the sci-fi one seems especially hard for me to imagine, but Sanderson is a writing beast so I'm sure he'll make it good somehow.

 

[Doopliss]

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/51qVo7%2BUPbL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg

This book is boring as fuck so far. I'm not too far in, and I assume it gets better..right? I mean there's a whole lot of exposition about this court case involving Swedish/german corporate embezzlement that is so dry. I don't think the translation helps much either. Now I'm reading financial jargon mixed with Swedish words and I just have to put it down periodically.

Yes, it picks up when Stieg arrives at the island, and further when Lisbeth gets there too. But if you've found it boring so far, under no circumstances should you attempt read the second book in the series, it'll put you in a coma.

Edit: Just seen that Homicide by David Simon (creator of The Wire) is the Kindle daily deal, £1.09. Good read for fans.

 

[coldvein]

Want to. Haven't gotten to it yet. I'd love to read every one of those NYRB Classics....

they are lovely books. i've got like eight down so far!

 

[Dresden]

Almost done with Mr. Fox by Helen Oyeyemi. Damn good so far.

 

[Salazar]

Two thirds through The Great Game.

Fools getting thrown into vermin-filled pits, faces getting sliced from ear to ear, poisoning, bandits, depraved khans, wolf-packs harassing columns of starving cossacks in the Khyber Pass.

So fucking good.

 

[Mumei]

Good taste.

I can report, being halfway through it, that Peter Hopkirk's The Great Game: On Secret Service in High Asia is one of the most tremendously exciting pieces of history I have read. My impression that it was Flashman made real has been thoroughly affirmed.

Why thank you!

The last few chapters (on the Encyclopédie and on Rousseau and his effect on his readers) were particularly wonderful. I had a history professor in college who had talked about some of the stuff that this talked about (different methods of, er, doing history / focuses), and I recognized some of the information on the chapter about the Encyclopédie from his lectures. I'll have to go back sometime and ask if he's read it.

That book of yours looks interesting as well, but unfortunately my library didn't have it.

Almost caught up:

Promethea, Volume 3

does alan moore ever get tired of spending entire chapters rambling on about kabbalistic nonsense and horoscopes and literal symbolism and general woo-woo

wait don't answer that

At least the art is pretty.

Patriotism

... Well that was graphic

Y: The Last Man, Volume 2

Liked it about the same as the first, I think.

Mushishi

I have several books checked out from the library that I need to try, including The Dispossessed, Pnin, The Ancestor's Tale, Giant Bones, Decameron, and Numbers in the Dark, plus another... 30-ish unread books on my shelf.

 

[TouchMyBox]

I'm currently reading Wizard and Glass from the Dark Tower series. I'm quite enjoying it thus far.

 

[Parham]

I started reading Masters of Doom and Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy earlier today. Both of the books are off to a pretty good start.

 

[Maklershed]

Just a heads up - today's daily deal on Amazon is 3 Stephen Ambrose books for $1.99 each.


Undaunted Courage by Stephen E. Ambrose


Citizen Soldiers: The U. S. Army from the Normandy Beaches to the Bulge to the Surrender of Germany by Stephen E. Ambrose


Crazy Horse and Custer by Stephen E. Ambrose

 

[British Monsoon]

A Kindle Single for $1.99:



It's a moving novella - and with a unique and quite effective writing structure that I have not come across before.

Picked this up for something to read on the train and I thoroughly enjoyed it - really unique little novella, and not just for the writing style, but in that while there isn't much of a traditional narrative it's still strangely compelling because of how well drawn the characters are, even ones who get no more than a few sentences to their vignettes. Also, so much of the prose contained within is beautiful and thoroughly thought-provoking, at times I found it to be more like poetry than a novel.

 

[Kola]

Il cimitero di Praga - The Prague Cemetery

Like it so far. Seldom I have experienced a main character who is hating everyone and everything so desperately.

 

[thomaser]

Yesss, finally finished Pynchon's Against the Day, one hour before midnight on New Years' Eve, five and a half months after starting it.

Just took out Murakami's Underground from the bookshelf, and read the first paragraph, just to start something before next year. I love his fiction, and I'm very curious about how his style will fit non-fiction, especially such a sombre theme as in this book.

 

[Arment]

I'm currently reading Wizard and Glass from the Dark Tower series. I'm quite enjoying it thus far.

I remember when I got to that book I was a little ticked to be taken away from the main group but it turned out to be quite an amazing side story and it fleshed out Roland a whole lot.

 

[CiSTM]

The Wonderful World of Albert Kahn Colour Photographs from a Lost Age

BBC Books, in association with the Musée Albert-Kahn, presents an astonishing collection of early true-colour photographs from around the world to accompany the acclaimed BBC television series.

In 1909 the millionaire French banker and philanthropist Albert Kahn embarked on an ambitious project to create a colour photographic record of, and for, the peoples of the world. As an idealist and an internationalist, Kahn believed that he could use the new Autochrome process, the world's first user-friendly, true-colour photographic system, to promote cross-cultural peace and understanding.

Until recently, Kahn's huge collection of 72,000 Autochromes remained relatively unheard of. Now, a century after he launched his project, this book and the BBC TV series it accompanies are bringing these dazzling pictures to a mass audience for the first time and putting colour into what we tend to think of as an entirely monochrome age.

Kahn sent photographers to more than 50 countries, often at crucial junctures in their history, when age-old cultures were on the brink of being changed for ever by war and the march of twentieth-century globalisation. They documented in true colour the collapse of the Ottoman and Austro-Hungarian empires, the last traditional Celtic villages in Ireland, and the soldiers of the First World War. They took the earliest known colour photographs in countries as far apart as Vietnam and Brazil, Mongolia and Norway, Benin and the United States. In 1929 the Wall Street Crash forced Kahn to bring his project to an end. He died in 1940, but left behind the most important collection of early colour

Awesome! Buy it if you find a copy. More info and pics visit http://www.albertkahn.co.uk/