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[kaskade]

 

[Zerokku]

Americam Gods. About 1/3 of the way in. Pretty fun and interesting read so far.

 

[wormstrangler]

Echo Burning - Lee Child

 

[Tim the Wiz]

I started Gateway, not bad for now.

Pohl's blog is pretty interesting - as far as the blog of a ninety year-old writer who can count people like Isaac Asimov as old friends can get interesting.

 

[DieH@rd]

Pohl's blog is pretty interesting - as far as the blog of a ninety year-old writer who can count people like Isaac Asimov as old friends can get interesting.

I finished Gateway and its great, now im starting with its sequel "Beyond The Blue Event Horizon"

Damn, that last 20 pages of Gateway... no wonder that Rob was so fucked up.

 

[Fanboydestroyer]

started WeaveWorld. I find it to be interesting so far, but I've only read about 60 or so pages. I hope that I enjoy it though.

 

[Guileless]

started WeaveWorld. I find it to be interesting so far, but I've only read about 60 or so pages. I hope that I enjoy it though.

I read that at summer camp in the early 90s. Good times. I read a lot of Barker back then, does he still write?

 

[eznark]

Also picked up Consider Phlebas, but B&N has no ebook image for that.

 

[Ryu]

Finished Hunger Games book 2: Catching Fire. Two things...

1. I really enjoyed this book despite a...

2. Cliffhanger ending. Sonofabitch. ANGRY. HULK SMASH.

Why oh why is book 3 not till August?! RAWR.

Anyways, off to pick up and start reading the following -

Also reading this on the side -

 

[afternoon delight]

"Funes el memorios" by Jorge Luis Borges. It's part of a collection of his short stories, called "Ficciones".

Does anyone else doubt that Borges may be in fact, God? His writing just melts faces, minds, concepts, etc.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

Does anyone else doubt that Borges may be in fact, God? His writing just melts faces, minds, concepts, etc.

He might be my favorite writer, if one could have such a thing. I know a lot of people read mainly his fiction, but his essays are amazing, they should be as well known.

 

[FnordChan]

Also, FnordChan, how's The Secret Pilgrim?

So, I'm about 1/4 of my way through the book and I can actually give you an answer now. As mentioned, the book is about George Smiley holding forth on his time fighting the Cold War to a class of Circus trainees at Sarratt about his career. This in turn causes the main character, Ned (last seen in The Russia House), to reminisce about his own years as a spy. If you're a fan of le Carre and have already read books like Tinker, Tailor, Solider, Spy and The Russia House, I'd absolutely recommend checking it out, as it's shaping up to be an epilogue to the characters and milieu of those novels. However, if you haven't read most of the Circus novels from Tinker, Tailor onward, I'd hold off on The Secret Pilgrim, as it spoils the endings to the two books I mentioned above.

FnordChan

 

[LabouredSubterfuge]

The Ascent of Money. Hugely informative. Required reading if you care at all about the economic systems that control our lives.

 

[The Chef]

This book offended and angered me.

How did it offend you? Did you work at a circus in the 30's?

 

[Chorazin]

The whole series is a guilty pleasure, but it's just such a fun read.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Finished Hunger Games book 2: Catching Fire. Two things...

1. I really enjoyed this book despite a...

2. Cliffhanger ending. Sonofabitch. ANGRY. HULK SMASH.

Why oh why is book 3 not till August?! RAWR.

HA I felt the same way WTF!!

Spoiler

PETA NOOO!!! Also fu#$ Gale its all about Peta.

I read that book in two days it was just unrelenting.

 

[Sanskrit]

Not this specific version, but Hamlet nonetheless.

 

[Ryu]

HA I felt the same way WTF!!

Spoiler

PETA NOOO!!! Also fu#$ Gale its all about Peta.

I read that book in two days it was just unrelenting.

I have to agree. Gale is a douche. Peeta knows his shit and how to play a crowd, that's for damn sure.

Spoiler

But WTF, No District 12? wat?! August 25th release of book 3?!?! ARGGGGG

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

I have to agree. Gale is a douche. Peeta knows his shit and how to play a crowd, that's for damn sure.

Spoiler

But WTF, No District 12? wat?! August 25th release of book 3?!?! ARGGGGG

I know man I know. My mind was blown with that whole thing. I got $20.00 that says the following will happen in the next book:

Spoiler

Peta is turned into a assassin by mind manipulation and is sent to kill Katniss and right when he is about to deliver the lethal blow she takes her bow and drops it on the ground in front of him(Like he did with the knife at the end of the first Hunger Games) and that snaps him out of it.

 

[bigmit3737]

Just started Dune.
About a few pages in before my day became busy.

I hope to get some reading done tonight.

 

[Devil Theory]

 

[MrPliskin]

I've been trying to read this on and off for years, and it's so hard for me to wrap my head around a lot of it :lol

 

[eznark]

The Ascent of Money. Hugely informative. Required reading if you care at all about the economic systems that control our lives.

Awesome book

 

[Witchfinder General]

Michael Crichton - Prey

Just finished reading a book that covered swarm intelligence so this seemed like a natural fun read. Hilariously conservative and right-wing (was Jurrasic Park the same? I don't remember such overtones. Then again, I read it over fifteen years ago) but a fun read all the same. Reminds me a bit of The Stand.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

Michael Crichton - Prey

Just finished reading a book that covered swarm intelligence so this seemed like a natural fun read. Hilariously conservative and right-wing (was Jurrasic Park the same? I don't remember such overtones. Then again, I read it over fifteen years ago) but a fun read all the same. Reminds me a bit of The Stand.

Its been a couple years since I read PREY but I remember it being terribly cliche and bland.
The big reveal that his

Spoiler

wife is stuck in the lab and is being impersonated by the little machines was just so bad.

 

[Fanboydestroyer]

I read that at summer camp in the early 90s. Good times. I read a lot of Barker back then, does he still write?

I think he's working on a horror novel known as The Scarlet Gospels.

 

[KingGondo]

Finished Outliers a couple days ago, and have since moved on to:

Kitchen Confidential by Anthony Bourdain
- I will from now on refer to Vegans as a "Hezbollah-like splinter faction of vegetarians." :lol

Also plan on reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo by Stieg Larsson. Was tentative because I tend to stay away from pop-fiction bestsellers, but a person whose taste I trust recommended it.

God, I love my Kindle. Between it and the iPhone app, I've read close to 10 books since Christmas.

 

[ryanyhc]

im currently trying to read all of the ian fleming james bond books. im reading dr no now. there is like 12-14 or something but they are only ~200 pages each so pretty quick reads.

 

[chuckddd]

Also picked up Consider Phlebas, but B&N has no ebook image for that.

I'm about to start that one, too.

Right now, however:

 

[Timo]

Just read:

Not too shabby. Can't wait for Imperial Bedrooms in Mayyy.

 

[Cornbread78]

http://idatemarriedmen.com/the-50-mile-rule-your-guide-to-infidelity-and-extramarital-etiquette/

The 50 Mile Rule


Totally reading this one. I'd recommend it to anyone that is married, planning to be married or in a very commited relationship. It plays how to cheat against how to recognize when someone is cheating. Very informative and interesting stuff. (As spoken about on the Howard Stern show a few years back, as I found out from reviews)

 

[thomaser]

Finally finished Thomas Pynchon's Mason & Dixon today. Started it on New Year's Eve, so it took a while. But damn, what a book! Worth every second, probably my favourite Pynchon (have yet to read Against the Day and Inherent Vice). I should probably try to say something useful about it, but it's so overwhelming that I have no idea where to start. Just read it, please?

About to start Marisha Pessl's Special Topics in Calamity Physics, which seems like another scorcher.

 

[Maklershed]

I've added Mason & Dixon to my Amazon cart. Based on the description it sounds right up my alley.

 

[eznark]

I've added Mason & Dixon to my Amazon cart. Based on the description it sounds right up my alley.

It is an absolutely fantastic read.

If anyone is looking for a novel, check out Father and Son. Easily my favorite work of fiction.

t takes formidable talent to mesmerize readers of a novel that focuses on a deeply flawed, unsympathetic protagonist, but Brown succeeds triumphantly in his most wise, humane and haunting work to date. On the first day that Glen Davis is released from the Mississippi state pen (after serving three years for running over a child while he was drunk), he kills two men; that night, he callously tells the mother of his toddler son that marriage is not part of his plans. On the second day, he rapes a teenaged girl. Glen is a despicable personmean, icily remote, seemingly without conscience. Sheriff Bobby Blanchard is Glen's opposite; a kind and decent man, he epitomizes integrity and responsibility. Bobby is in love with Jewel, the mother of Glen's son, and their relationship is only one of the heartwrenching dramas played out here. Only halfway through the book do we learn that Bobby is Glen's half brother; both are sons of Virgil Davis, whom Glen demonizes and hates and whom Bobby wistfully wishes would acknowledge him. In fact, all of the characters are involved in a web of secret relationships, and much of the resonance of this suspenseful narrative is due to Brown's adroit pacing, as he releases surprising information gradually and with natural understatement. Despite Glen's coldhearted deeds, we come to understand him, too, as he progresses to a desperate act of rage and revenge. As in his previous novels, Brown (Dirty Work; Joe) uses lean, lyrical prose to evoke the cadenced speech and the atmosphere of the rural south in the 1960s, where everybody chainsmokes and drinks whiskey. Though he depicts a basic conflict of good and evil, however, Brown never reduces the issues to stark polarities. Most impressive here are Brown's compassionate view of human nature and his understanding of the subtleties of human behavior and the fabric of society, which, after tragedy reknits itself anew, to reaffirm the essential kinship of a community of souls. Author tour. (Sept.)

Also, does anyone know why none of Pynchon's books are in ebook format?

 

[Karakand]

If anyone is looking for a novel, check out Father and Son. Easily my favorite work of fiction.

Sounds dreadful. Does a woman get raped with corn in it?

 

[eznark]

The style is not the same, but it's as close to a Faulkner feel as I have gotten from any contemporary author. Another of his books, Joe, definitely has a barn rape...no corn though.

 

[zero margin]

got the great gatsby on audiobook

 

[Karakand]

The style is not the same, but it's as close to a Faulkner feel as I have gotten from any contemporary author. Another of his books, Joe, definitely has a barn rape...no corn though.

Vanilla rape is so NY Times bestseller list. If you want that Nobel Prize you gotta get corny with it.

 

[eznark]

Vanilla rape is so NY Times bestseller list. If you want that Nobel Prize you gotta get corny with it.

Oh, it's far from vanilla. Turn your snob meter down to five and give the book a shot.

 

[Karakand]

I advocated reading The Illuminatus Trilogy ITT I am so not a snob.

I am however masochistic so I will read F&S on your dare. If I can handle LA Candy I can handle anything. BRING IT ON.

 

[Flo_Evans]

Finally finished Thomas Pynchon's Mason & Dixon today. Started it on New Year's Eve, so it took a while. But damn, what a book! Worth every second, probably my favourite Pynchon (have yet to read Against the Day and Inherent Vice). I should probably try to say something useful about it, but it's so overwhelming that I have no idea where to start. Just read it, please?

This book kicked my ass. I need to finish it someday.

The Ascent of Money. Hugely informative. Required reading if you care at all about the economic systems that control our lives.

I just finished "The Myth of the Rational Market", which I thought was pretty great. Started reading "Shock Doctrine the rise of Disaster Capitalism" which may be turning me into a communist. Maybe I will pick this up if I am not burnt out on $$$. I think I need a light hearted fantasy novel after these 2. :lol

 

[eznark]

I advocated reading The Illuminatus Trilogy ITT I am so not a snob.

I am however masochistic so I will read F&S on your dare. If I can handle LA Candy I can handle anything. BRING IT ON.

I think you have the wrong impression of the book., but hopefully you'll enjoy it anyway. I have no idea what LA Candy is.

As far as Illuminatus Trilogy:

In 1986 the trilogy won the Prometheus Hall of Fame Award, designed to honor classic libertarian fiction.[2]

Holy shit I have to check those out!

 

[thomaser]

This book kicked my ass. I need to finish it someday.

It will help to have Wikipedia or a couple of good history books nearby, to make sense of the countless historical references. Like the War of Jenkins' Ear or the Dark Hole of Calcutta. The language is pretty hard in the early stages, but you quickly get used to the Ebb and Flow of those Phrases Enigmatick.

Edit: The Illuminatus! trilogy is another must. Read it last autumn, and loved every bit of it. I wanna be cool like Hagbart Celine.

 

[Musashi Wins!]

Sounds dreadful. Does a woman get raped with corn in it?

:lol

holy jezuu, good stuff.

 

[Iceman]

That Hideous Strength
C.S. Lewis

Just barely began it.

 

[KidDork]

After realizing Daemon is the first in what I assume will be a long series I'm kind of done with it. It's ok as a single novel but having to read at least two more to get any sort of conclusion isn't real appetizing.

I just started this, and am loving it so far. I knew nothing about it before just picking it up on the strength of recommendations. I'm not sure how much of the tech Suarez talks about is actual, but I'm just enjoying the ride.

 

[Karakand]

I think you have the wrong impression of the book., but hopefully you'll enjoy it anyway.

My only non-hating criticism (I am a hater not a snob) is that the excerpts online read dryly.

I have no idea what LA Candy is.

You know how Don DeLillo lists name brands? Take that but insert paragraphs between the individual items in the list until you have created a 300+ page work that is literally about nothing and full of caricatures masquerading as people whose only function is to connect these listed consumer items and then slap a cliffhanger ending on it because lists don't have endings, they just end.

As far as Illuminatus Trilogy:

Holy shit I have to check those out!

One of the characters in it is Ragnar Danneskjold but not shitty it rules.

 

[Salazar]

'The Insanity Defense', Woody Allen's Collected Prose.
'Beyond the Shadows', the last book in Brent Weeks' assassin fantasy trilogy.
'Anubis Gates', by Tim Powers - which is wonderful.

 

[speculawyer]

A horror story . . .

 

[Christoff Yurievich]

Just started reading "The Death and Life of Bobby Z" by Don Winslow. It was recommended to me by a friend at work, and thus far it's an interesting read. I just found out there's a movie starring starring Paul Walker, Laurence Fishburne, and Olivia Wilde. Huh.

I also reserved a few books based on picks in this thread and should be getting them from the library this weekend.