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What are you reading? (February 2014)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
Just finished reading Blindness by Jose Saramago. By far one of the best novels I've read in a while - the prose and it's style of storytelling was just wonderful, and there was some seriously powerful moments in dat middle portion of the novel. Ending was
although I'd imagine there might be a lot of complaints towards it.. couldn't imagine the story ending any other way though, esp in relation to the social commentary the author was kind of pushing.
bittersweet in the best way it could ever be
Out Stealing Horses slipped to a 2/5. Lots of things I liked, but it just felt very directionless, and not what I was hoping for, so saying "it's ok" just about sums it up. Some great writing though, and I love the constant feeling of cold presented, but ultimately I'll forget about it.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Ended up starting this.
Slow Getting Up: A Story of NFL Survival from the Bottom of the Pile by Nate Jackson
Loving it so far. Nate Jackson has a great sense of humor.
Slow Getting Up: A Story of NFL Survival from the Bottom of the Pile by Nate Jackson
Loving it so far. Nate Jackson has a great sense of humor.
Professor Lich
Member
Just finished He, She, and It for class.
Pretty good book, really enjoyed it. Best part is how it's a work of fiction, but you can see parallels in today's world.
I'm glad it was assigned, haven't read a book in forever.
Pretty good book, really enjoyed it. Best part is how it's a work of fiction, but you can see parallels in today's world.
I'm glad it was assigned, haven't read a book in forever.
charlemagne
Member
Just finished this, and I really liked it. Looking at some of the reviews around it seems to be pretty polarising. I can see how, but it's definitely made me want to check out some more Margaret Atwood stuff.
Anticitizen One
Banned
Drive
The Color of Magic
The Color of Magic
Hell yeah, Nate is hilarious. I'll probably get around to rereading it someday.
Get The Blind Assassin and Oryx and Crake. The first one in particular is one of my favorite novels ever. It's a novel within a novel. Two lovers tell a pulp sci fi story while the other parts are a family drama. Just so good.
Just finished this, and I really liked it. Looking at some of the reviews around it seems to be pretty polarising. I can see how, but it's definitely made me want to check out some more Margaret Atwood stuff.
GRIZZMEISTER
Banned
After watching The Daily Show with Jon Stewart last night I've decided to read, The Future of the Mind: The Scientific Quest to Understand, Enhance, and Empower the Mind by Michio Kaku.
Ravensmash
Member
My copy of Neuromancer turned up earlier than I expected. I'm excited to start reading it later tonight, been ages since I've read regularly.
Waiting on Rendezvous with Rama also, and got some remaining credit to buy a few more books in the near future.
Eventually, I'll start reading Game of Thrones considering I bought it rather excitedly several months back.
Waiting on Rendezvous with Rama also, and got some remaining credit to buy a few more books in the near future.
Eventually, I'll start reading Game of Thrones considering I bought it rather excitedly several months back.
GRIZZMEISTER
Banned
Rendezvous with Rama is one of my all-time favorite books. I much prefer it to Neuromancer which I read when many of its concepts seemed revolutionary back in the late 1980's. Neuromancer has lost much of its impact since the advent of The Matrix movies.
Plasticine
Member
Finished Muerte Con Carne by Shane McKenzie. It's been described as The Mexican Chainsaw Massacre, and that's an appropriate enough description, with the Leatherface here being clad as a Luchadore. The lead characters were pretty annoying, though. Some of the writing felt overcooked (ie. one adjective too many) but was solid enough. Overall, I liked the book and think I'll check out some of McKenzie's other titles later on.
But now, I'm moving on to:
This will be the second Bryan Smith book I've read, the first being his totally 80s Rock and Roll Reform School Zombies. I really liked that book, and hope this one is just as good.
But now, I'm moving on to:
This will be the second Bryan Smith book I've read, the first being his totally 80s Rock and Roll Reform School Zombies. I really liked that book, and hope this one is just as good.
That was my opinion as well pretty much. I did like it, but expected a much bigger emotional impact.
Not sure this is exactly what I'm in the mood for, but started this.
Now Reading.. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
Just a chapter in, and it definitely feels like a "man's man" book with the solider speak so far.
Mackenzie 92
Member
That was my opinion as well pretty much. I did like it, but expected a much bigger emotional impact.
Not sure this is exactly what I'm in the mood for, but started this.
Now Reading.. Billy Lynn's Long Halftime Walk
Just a chapter in, and it definitely feels like a "man's man" book with the solider speak so far.
Bought that during the daily. Interested to see what you think of it.
thequickandthedead
Member
Going to start reading Dune today. What should I expect?
Nappuccino
Member
After basically hating my entire experience with The Road again, I figured I'd read some minimalist writing that I actually enjoyed.
Thank God for Kurt Vonnegut and Cats Cradle.
Thank God for Kurt Vonnegut and Cats Cradle.
The Artful Dodger
Member
Read God Bless you, Mr. Rosewater. I think it's Vonnegut's best work.
nakedsushi
Member
Black Chalk by Christopher J. Yates
It's about a group of friends who agree to play a game where the consequences escalate till one by one they drop out.
It took me a while to get into it but once I got about 15% thru, I got caught up in the mystery of The Game and finished it in a couple of days. Pretty entertaining read even though the ending was a little too "Now I will explain my brilliant plan!" for me.
I'm not sure if this is the place to ask, but I am having trouble trying to remember a science fiction book I read in college and it's slightly eating me ..
It takes place in the future, where computers are implanted in everyone's brains and people can communicate "telepathically" through them, and the protagonist (I think) is a teenager or young adult. The moon is like a big shopping mall or place to vacation.
Does any of this ring a bell with anyone? That is all I remember, and while I didn't appreciate it in college, I have a feeling I'd be more interested in it now. Thank you!
It takes place in the future, where computers are implanted in everyone's brains and people can communicate "telepathically" through them, and the protagonist (I think) is a teenager or young adult. The moon is like a big shopping mall or place to vacation.
Does any of this ring a bell with anyone? That is all I remember, and while I didn't appreciate it in college, I have a feeling I'd be more interested in it now. Thank you!
RottenTanuki
Member
Basic Fundamentals of Modern Tattoo
Just finished this, and I really liked it. Looking at some of the reviews around it seems to be pretty polarising. I can see how, but it's definitely made me want to check out some more Margaret Atwood stuff.
Oryx and Crake for sure (the first book in the series, I really loved it...the other two books...uhhh, skip IMO).
What's it about?Ended up starting this.
Slow Getting Up: A Story of NFL Survival from the Bottom of the Pile by Nate Jackson
Loving it so far. Nate Jackson has a great sense of humor.
I've been wanting a good NFL book.
I'll try!
It was for a class, a recent book (by recent I meant around early 2000 as I graduated in 2004).
I remember that families lived in houses that were enclosed in some sort of gravity bubbles or something. I also remember that a girl character, was too poor and couldn't afford the latest brain chip, or was it that she rejected the brain chip and didn't have one at all .. I am not sure. I'm also half sure if this story involved hackers too, hacking the characters brains.
I tried googling a bunch of different keyword combinations but didn't find anything that really matched.
EverythingShiny
Member
Pretty sure you're talking about Feed by MT Anderson.
lastflowers
Banned
really enjoying
Oh yes, that is it! Thanks!
I read the synopsis and even recognized the cover.
EverythingShiny
Member
No problem! I actually haven't read it, but I was in charge of the children's department at a Barnes & Noble for a year so I became familiar with a lot of YA books.
It's been on my to-read list for years! Thanks for reminding me about it, haha.GRIZZMEISTER
Banned
The movie Charly (which was adapted from Flowers for Algernon) always seemed better than the book to me. Modern audiences may find it too slow, though.
It's terrific. It's about Nate's journey into the NFL and the struggles it takes just to stay on a team, and what it means to get through the grind of being a practice squad player, etc etc. Plus as I mentioned, I thought Nate was hilarious as well, so it is a fun read.
charlemagne
Member
Sorry for the late reply, but unfortunately I ahve yet to see the anime. From what I can tell it's based mostly on the manga version rather than the novel so it has all the added story stuff. I read the manga and it's mostly so I'm imagining the anime is competent enough to be enjoyed.
Gotta add this to the reading list. Don't really watch football, but this sounds interesting enough to check out.
OfWhiteSkinOnRedLeather
Member
Abaddon's Gate. I'm liking each book in this series a bit less than the previous one, and every time I see a chapter isn't about Holden, I'm kind of disappointed. Maybe I just need a break since I've read the three back to back.
Tragicomedy
Member
I finished Barrayar by Lois McMaster Bujold - ★★★★ - I liked the first two Vorkosigan books I read, but this one completely won me over. Cordelia Naismith stole the show, once again. She and sergeant Drou were amazingly well written characters, and the pacing to this book was just about perfect. Highly recommended.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Looks like Shane covered it, but yeah, it's about Nate Jackson's experience in the NFL as a undrafted free agent. Interesting to get his perspective and insights from struggling to make the roster. And the dude is funny as hell and a pretty decent writer.
RatskyWatsky
Hunky Nostradamus
I read the first two within a few months, then had to wait a year for Abaddon's Gate, and even with a years break, Abaddon's gate wasn't nearly as good as the first two. Ty did say they were trying something different with the third book, and it did feel different, but it wasn't a positive change.
Hoping the next one is better. Should be out this summer if I'm not mistaken.
Finished reading Animal Farm by George Orwell in a span of 1 hour and 20-minutes whilst on the bus today and it was genuinely pretty damn great and more or less a great way of finding out what the Russian Revolution was all about, and I largely agree with Orwell's more nuanced than you think left-wing take on the whole thing.. and so much of it what it says can be applied politically in other areas.
I kind of wonder how I'd feel about it if I read it in a time when I was less politically conscious though.
I kind of wonder how I'd feel about it if I read it in a time when I was less politically conscious though.
Tizoc
Member
I am reading Dune atm, and am slowly enjoying it, even though I'm still in the first chapter or two =P
If it's OK to ask here:
What are some good and easy to read fantasy/sci-fi books with an emphasis on pathos?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathos
That or if the story is more about the characters and the 'journey rather than the destination' with the narrative?
If it's OK to ask here:
What are some good and easy to read fantasy/sci-fi books with an emphasis on pathos?
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pathos
That or if the story is more about the characters and the 'journey rather than the destination' with the narrative?
There is a bit of Football speak that might confuse, but it doesn't take away from the overall book since it's not really about on the field stuff moreso as to what Nick goes through off the field.
Tragicomedy
Member
How did you like the first two? I've been meaning to give the series a shot, but that's still a ways off. I want to read the latest Sanderson and finish the Black Company series first.
Mackenzie 92
Member
On the third Garrett novel by Glen Cook
Cold Copper Tears
Also reading The Fell Sword by Miles Cameron, sequel to The Red Knight (one of my favorites last year).
Got the Red Knight in a sale a while back, need to get around to it. Anything you would compare it to?
I recently re-read The Dune Legends (The Butlerian Jihad, The Machine Crusade, The Battle of Corrin) by Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson.
It is a "prequel" (goddamn fan-fiction really if you ask me) for Frank Herbert's Dune, needlessly telling the story of the Butlerian Jihad mentioned in the backstory of Dune.
What can i say... Writing's nod that good, characters have potential* but it is wasted, the world is filled with illogical things and inconsistencies with the original series and... well, it is full of shit, when you think it within the context of Dune.
Ironically it would actually make a decent, if not special, scifi story, if it were a bit better written and wasn't related to Dune in anyway.
*In my opinion, the only noteworthy character is the robot Erasmus, though he/it is kind of flawed. His/its attempts to understand humans are intriguing.
It is a "prequel" (goddamn fan-fiction really if you ask me) for Frank Herbert's Dune, needlessly telling the story of the Butlerian Jihad mentioned in the backstory of Dune.
What can i say... Writing's nod that good, characters have potential* but it is wasted, the world is filled with illogical things and inconsistencies with the original series and... well, it is full of shit, when you think it within the context of Dune.
Ironically it would actually make a decent, if not special, scifi story, if it were a bit better written and wasn't related to Dune in anyway.
*In my opinion, the only noteworthy character is the robot Erasmus, though he/it is kind of flawed. His/its attempts to understand humans are intriguing.