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What are you reading? (December 2013)

N

Nezumi

Member
Bootaaay said:
Got my copies of the first set of books from Gollancz's Discworld Collector's Library;

AUg43jy.jpg


Started with Mort - I haven't read this one in years and it was a real struggle to not just jump straight into Reaper Man, which is one of my all-time Discworld favourites, but I forgot that Mort was the point where Pratchett really kicked his writing into gear and I've been enjoying it immensely so far.
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These covers look so freaking amazing that I decided to order them even though I already own the books. I also preordered Pyramids and Small gods since they are only 2.71 pounds per book at the moment.
I fear that that this won't be the end though. The fangirl in me is already dreaming of having all 40 Discworld novels in matching hardcover versions on my shelf.
 
M

Mifune

Mehmber

Dissident Gardens by Jonathan Lethem

Really liked it.

Lethem tackles three generations of American radicals with a laser-focus on character. Be warned, this book is largely without plot. It's a character piece through and through, structured as a non-linear journey through the lives of these people, and it ping-pongs from the 50s to the 60s to the present day and every time in between, seemingly at random. And since it's Lethem, there's lots of fun geeky stuff about their interests, everything from the Mets to folk music to video games.

Chronic City was a little out there for me, and I skipped You Don't Love Me Yet, so I consider Dissident Gardens a return to form. I think it's his best since Motherless Brooklyn.
 
S

ShaneB

Member
Terribly indecisive today. Feel like I started to read 4 or 5 different books while travelling home, and nothing clicked at all.
 
P

Plasticine

Member
Finished Joe Lansdale's Act of Love. Although dated, it's still an extremely strong book. Extremely fast paced with lots of nice twists. Lansdale was still developing his style, but you can definitely catch hints of the writer he would become. The Houston Hacker's crimes are sufficiently brutal, and probably shocking when the book was first released. When the Hacker's identity is finally revealed, the book really kicks into high gear. The Nightrunners remains my favorite Lansdale novel, but Act of Love gives it a run for its money.

Up next is...

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I've never read anything by Herbert, so I decided to start with his debut novel.
 
OfWhiteSkinOnRedLeather

OfWhiteSkinOnRedLeather

Member
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I'm having trouble getting through the second chapter. Scifi just isn't my thing outside of visual mediums. I have Leviathan Wakes to read after this and I really dig Daniel Abraham, so hopefully that one fares better.
 
F

Fusebox

Banned
I didn't get far into Ancillary Justice either, I'll have to try again one day.

Plasticine said:
Finished Joe Lansdale's Act of Love. Although dated, it's still an extremely strong book. Extremely fast paced with lots of nice twists. Lansdale was still developing his style, but you can definitely catch hints of the writer he would become. The Houston Hacker's crimes are sufficiently brutal, and probably shocking when the book was first released. When the Hacker's identity is finally revealed, the book really kicks into high gear. The Nightrunners remains my favorite Lansdale novel, but Act of Love gives it a run for its money.

Up next is...

syD4c8v.jpg


I've never read anything by Herbert, so I decided to start with his debut novel.
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Oh wow, old school! I remember reading loads of Herbert back in the day, all his best books start with the word 'The' in the title so enjoy.
 
K

Krowley

Member
Plasticine said:
Finished Joe Lansdale's Act of Love. Although dated, it's still an extremely strong book. Extremely fast paced with lots of nice twists. Lansdale was still developing his style, but you can definitely catch hints of the writer he would become. The Houston Hacker's crimes are sufficiently brutal, and probably shocking when the book was first released. When the Hacker's identity is finally revealed, the book really kicks into high gear. The Nightrunners remains my favorite Lansdale novel, but Act of Love gives it a run for its money.

Up next is...

syD4c8v.jpg


I've never read anything by Herbert, so I decided to start with his debut novel.
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I've enjoyed the (admittedly few) James Herbert books I've read. I think he's a bit underrated compared to his contemporaries in the Horror genre.

He knows how to get under your skin.
 
M

Mifune

Mehmber
Oh man, The Twelve is so good 250 pages in. Better than The Passage, which I found to be a bit predictable and familiar. Still too much setup but what can you do.
 
B

Bazza

Member
Bootaaay said:
Got my copies of the first set of books from Gollancz's Discworld Collector's Library;

AUg43jy.jpg


Started with Mort - I haven't read this one in years and it was a real struggle to not just jump straight into Reaper Man, which is one of my all-time Discworld favourites, but I forgot that Mort was the point where Pratchett really kicked his writing into gear and I've been enjoying it immensely so far.
Click to expand...

Although I only read the Discworld books earlier this year, I had to buy those and preordered a few of the others.
 
M

Mannequin

Member
Jimothy said:
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If you enjoy reading about the battle I'd recommend The Killer Angels by Michael Shaara. It's a historical novel from the point of view of people on the field. Really excellent.

I'm still reading Battle Cry of Freedom, a general history of the Civil War, 750 pages in with about another hundred or so to go. Great book. I've got a load of other Civil War books lined up for when I finish it.
 
M

Mumei

Member
Since my last update, I've finished:

Shriek: The Afterword, by Jeff VanderMeer
Blackest Night, by Geoff Johns
The Kings of New York: A Year Among the Geeks, Oddballs, and Geniuses Who Make Up America's Top High School Chess Team, by Michael Wenreb
The Origins of American Slavery: Freedom and Bondage in the English Colonies, by Barbara Wood
1491: New Revelations of the Americas Before Columbus, by Charles C. Mann
The Unwritten (Vol. 5 - 7), by Mike Carey
Saga of the Swamp Thing (Bk. 3 - 4), by Alan Moore

1491 was absolutely amazing and something I'd add to my list of favorite books this year. I learned so much I didn't know before about pre-Columbian civilizations. I am currently reading Retribution Falls.
 
M

Maklershed

Member
Mumei said:
1491 was absolutely amazing and something I'd add to my list of favorite books this year. I learned so much I didn't know before about pre-Columbian civilizations.
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Nice. This has been sitting in my backlog for a few months and I'm getting more and more tempted to give it a go.
 
M

Mumei

Member
Maklershed said:
Nice. This has been sitting in my backlog for a few months and I'm getting more and more tempted to give it a go.
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It really is amazing. I don't think I've read anything that so thoroughly brings home the the scale of the loss to the human enterprise it was when they died. There's a passage about the tlamatinime; the Aztec equivalent of a philosopher, and their attempts to grapple with questions of mortality, the impermanence of the human condition, and their uncertainty about what happens after you die. It's fascinating to read; for me some of the answers they came up with were ideas that truly resonated with me and made me feel this sense of both connectedness and profound loss.
 
P

Piecake

Member
Mumei said:
It really is amazing. I don't think I've read anything that so thoroughly brings home the the scale of the loss to the human enterprise it was when they died. There's a passage about the tlamatinime; the Aztec equivalent of a philosopher, and their attempts to grapple with questions of mortality, the impermanence of the human condition, and their uncertainty about what happens after you die. It's fascinating to read; for me some of the answers they came up with were ideas that truly resonated with me and made me feel this sense of both connectedness and profound loss.
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Ill have to put that on my history to read list. I was looking for a pre-european colonist history book, but I really didnt come across any decent ones (most looked very scholarly). Thanks!
 
M

Mackenzie 92

Member
man got a samsung tablet and tried to read on it.. my eyes... back to the good ol kindle keyboard for me.

anyway, reading a dog's journey now.
 
T

The Culture Vulture

Member
NotTheGuyYouKill said:
I just finished two-thirds of Horns by Joe Hill

horns.jpg


Great concept. The main character's present day story is awesome, some wickedly funny and dark shit happens. Stuff is starting to get heavy. The book's main problem though, is too many flashbacks. They interrupt the far more interesting present day story far too often and for too long. The present day stuff is encapsulating, but the flashbacks, I find them pretty meh and repetitive. But it's still shaping up to be a damn fine read. Will probably finish it tomorrow.
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Good take. Just finished this and the flashbacks really weighed down the middle of the book. Still a good read and I'd recommend it to anyone remotely interested in the concept.

Starting The Night Circus to read over my holiday break. Cheers and happy holidays to everyone who contributes to these threads.

394px-TheNightCircus.jpg
 
B

BorkBork

The Legend of BorkBork: BorkBorkity Borking
Mumei said:
It really is amazing. I don't think I've read anything that so thoroughly brings home the the scale of the loss to the human enterprise it was when they died. There's a passage about the tlamatinime; the Aztec equivalent of a philosopher, and their attempts to grapple with questions of mortality, the impermanence of the human condition, and their uncertainty about what happens after you die. It's fascinating to read; for me some of the answers they came up with were ideas that truly resonated with me and made me feel this sense of both connectedness and profound loss.
Click to expand...

I've gotten a few recommendations on this, definitely got to check it out now :)
 
O

Onionkid

Member
bester.jpg


Just finished The Stars My Destination by Alfred Bester. Holy crap! I'm not sure what I expected going into it, but I certainly didn't think it would be so fast-paced, exciting and ultimately thoughtful by the end. Absolute definition of a page turner, just finished it in one sitting. A great story of a character who starts as a simple man seeking revenge and becomes something greater throughout his journey. I've been reading a lot of pretty shoddy endings lately to otherwise solid novels, so I'm glad to see this novel wrap things up so well. Such a fun, brisk romp with a fantastic conclusion that really elevates the whole thing.

Not too sure what I'm going to read next, but sitting around at home for the holidays is going to give me plenty of time to finish a few more novels before the end of the year. Maybe it's time to get around to The Windup Girl.
 
M

Mumei

Member
Masenkame said:
How was the VanderMeer novel? I've been seeing his name pop up a decent amount, mostly next to China Mieville for interesting fantasy fiction.
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10/10, loved it, etc.

You should start with City of Madmen and Saints first, though, since Shriek: An Afterword is part of a series of books set in the fictional city of Ambergris. I'd describe the books as New Weird, myself, with some atmospheric horror. They aren't like most fantasy books you come across.
 
S

ShaneB

Member
As is my nature to read things I haven't seen mentioned a whole lot here, I started this last night. Beautiful writing so far, and seems like a perfect fit for the wintery mood I'm in. And I'm starting to think that maybe "Magical Realism" is a favourite genre of mine.

The Snow Child
11250053.jpg
 
B

Blitzzz

Member
eLZhi said:
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I'm having trouble getting through the second chapter. Scifi just isn't my thing outside of visual mediums. I have Leviathan Wakes to read after this and I really dig Daniel Abraham, so hopefully that one fares better.
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Haven't had time to post here for a while.

I just finished Ancillary Justice and loved it. One of my favourite books of the year. The first few chapters are a bit weird as you try and wrap your head around what the author is describing. I found that enjoyable but can see how others might not. I think it gets more interesting around 40% in but that's a long read if you don't find the concept interesting.

Leviathan Wakes is a lot different. Faster paced, more action, a bit more standard space opera.
 
B

Bazza

Member
Got my hardback copies of the Discworld Death Collection books today, They really are beautiful books, gonna have to send back my copy of The Hogfather, little bit of damage on one of the corners and as I think I will collect the whole lot I want them all in perfect condition. Gonna enjoy reading them again.
 
M

Mascot

Member
9781847243843.jpg


Should have given up on this a long time ago. It's so bloody boring but I've somehow found myself about 9/10ths of the way through so feel duty bound to finish it. Can't wait to be done with it and move on to a book I'll actually look forward to opening every evening.
 
karasu

karasu

Member
I'm reading Superman:Red Son and I am not sure why people like this. It makes pathetic characters out of Lois, Wonder Woman, and Batman. What is Batman even trying to accomplish? Anarchy? gtfo. The concept itself captured my imagination but the story keeps knocking me back to the real world. None of this makes sense to me.
 
M

Masenkame

Member
Mumei said:
10/10, loved it, etc.

You should start with City of Madmen and Saints first, though, since Shriek: An Afterword is part of a series of books set in the fictional city of Ambergris. I'd describe the books as New Weird, myself, with some atmospheric horror. They aren't like most fantasy books you come across.
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Cool thanks, I'll check out City of Saints and Madmen sometime. I've read that VanderMeer has a postmodernist bent to his work, which is intriguing.
 
T

thomaser

Member
Going to take a break from Oscar Wilde's complete works to read Snuff by Terry Pratchett. Got it for Christmas from a friend :)
 
P

Plasticine

Member
Finished James Herbert's The Rats last night. It was my first Herbert and I'll definitely read more of his work. I really liked his authorial voice; it felt like an British version of Stephen King. I also appreciated how Herbert approached the structure of the book. He provided a lot of detail for his canon fodder, some sections even felt like little short stories about these otherwise throwaway characters. The Black Rat attacks were fun and Herbert pulled no punches. He established this very quickly when the Black Rats devoured a small child. The elementary school and train attacks were really strong set-pieces. I've heard good things about The Fog, so I'll definitely check that one out eventually. It's a shame the Kindle version of his books are so expensive.

I'm heading back to Richard Laymon next:

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I hadn't intended to read The Cellar, but I noticed the Kindle version was on sale for only 99 cents. I couldn't resist.
 
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