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What are you reading? (July 2013)

I just finished Shadows Linger the second book in The Black Company series. I am just loving these so far. Can't wait to jump into The White Rose which I hope to do some time today.

The payoff from the third novel is great. The whole trilogy was great reading. I need to start the next trilogy soon.
 

ShaneB

Member
'The Fort' is a daily on Amazon today, a book I really liked, along with a bunch of other thrillers and mysteries. I might get "Breakdown".
 

bob_arctor

Tough_Smooth
Re-read Lolita earlier this summer, now re-reading this:

76620.jpg


Next will watch the cartoon with my kids.
 

Kallor

Member
I read the first Malazan book and found it dense and confusing. There's so much GAF love in here for the series that I'm considering picking up book 2, but at this point I'm so far removed from reading the first book that I have zero recollection of characters/events/etc.

A lot of people recommend that you start with book 2. So just read book two then re-read book one(or just read a synopsis for book 1). Its worth it. If you're still not interested after book 3 or 4 (best character doesn't even show up until book 4 lol) then it isn't for you. O

*Game of thrones* The seconds one is also very gripping. 3rd and 4th have been a let down for me.

What!? book 3 is amazing. Best of all of them .
 

Fitrix

Neo Member
Books that Ive finished:

Replay:The History of Video Games by Tristan Donovan
Questions for A Soldier,The Sagan Diary and The Last Colony by John Scalzi
Under The Dome by Stephen King

Now Im reading 11/22/63 by Stephen King.Already a few pages in and Im already hooked.What do you expect from The King himself?
 
What!? book 3 is amazing. Best of all of them .

maybe it's because I read them all too close together. I should have spaced them out a bit more. The end of three was quite amazing, I'll give it that. I think it's really just the 4th book that's made me take a hiatus and read American Pastoral over the weekend.



Wasn't too impressed with American Pastoral. There were flashes of the book that were enthralling, but the flashes were surrounded by too much long-winded ruminations that seemed to say the same things over and over again for no reason.
 

Kinitari

Black Canada Mafia
Radical-Abundance.png


Pretty good read so far, although a bit more roundabout than I was expecting. Still, drexler is an important voice in the nanotech field, so I'll listen to him while he takes the scenic route in giving me knowledge.
 

ULTROS!

People seem to like me because I am polite and I am rarely late. I like to eat ice cream and I really enjoy a nice pair of slacks.
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston

Any good though?

Also what would you guys recommend? I have some choices in mind:
- Poisonwood Bible
- Lolita (although I already know what happens)
- The Plot Against America
- Memories of my Melancholy Whores
- Merrick (Anne Rice)

Edit, also:
- Tess of D'Urbervilles
- Lord of the Flies

What's the least heavy among them and preferably the most recommended?
 

Ashes

Banned
I'm now reading:

A Clockwork Orange, by Anthony Burgess.

Don't like it. Liked the film though.

edit: If you're looking for an exact recommendation, I'd say shoot for Hunger, Knut Hamsun

update:

I guess I loved it by the end. Good book. Real good book.
 

TTG

Member
I finished The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway tonight, really enjoyed it. Checked out some discussion online and opinions seem really mixed(dissent on the internet, shocking!) with a majority being on the negative side, going by my brief perusal anyway.

I would really love to hear some thoughts from fellow GAFers. Things started slow, Paris seemed strange to me. An unending stream of places called by name, with no further description at all. It's the way a traveler would describe a stay to someone very familiar with the city, except I'm not, so it didn't amount to much. Once you've read a significant portion of the novel the purpose seems clear, it's no accident or boasting Hemingway's part. Instead, like a lot of the idle dialogue in Pamploma, it's meant to convey how the characters experience the city. Point is, Spain is amazing, it hit all the right notes for me. The early parts evoke so much of my own outings on hikes and to parks with family. The carrida, despite of how predictable you may think Hemingway's take on it will be going in, is beautifully captured. Would I personally attend given the chance? Probably not, but reading about it here was almost mesmerizing.

And then, there are the characters. I found them beautifully written, all showing different personalities, but at the same time having similar... flaws. Goes to show what a lack of motivation, responsibility and accountability will do and when the rot(sorry, Brett uses it so much, that's the word that came to mind) sets in, well I don't want to dwell too long; I didn't mean to write a long rambling thing anyway. Besides, someone may be enticed to read it and that's where the meat of the story is, so why spoil it?

Anyone have some thoughts they want to share? I want to keep talking/thinking about it, it's one of the most beautiful books I've read in a while. It's really taken some restrain on my part to not dump a wall of text here!
 

Pau

Member
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston

Any good though?

Also what would you guys recommend? I have some choices in mind:
- Poisonwood Bible
- Lolita (although I already know what happens)
- The Plot Against America
- Memories of my Melancholy Whores
- Merrick (Anne Rice)

Edit, also:
- Tess of D'Urbervilles
- Lord of the Flies

What's the least heavy among them and preferably the most recommended?
Lord of the Flies is probably the quickest and lightest read. Of the books you listed, Lolita is my favorite butI wouldn't consider light and it's read for the language more so than plot. The Poisonwood Bible is significantly lighter and I enjoyed that one a lot.
 

TheFatOne

Member
I just finished reading the way of kings by Brian Sanderson, and I really enjoyed it. Can someone recommend a similar book or series?
 
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston

Any good though?

Also what would you guys recommend? I have some choices in mind:
- Poisonwood Bible
- Lolita (although I already know what happens)
- The Plot Against America
- Memories of my Melancholy Whores
- Merrick (Anne Rice)

Edit, also:
- Tess of D'Urbervilles
- Lord of the Flies

What's the least heavy among them and preferably the most recommended?

Their Eyes Were Watching God is great. As is Poisonwood Bible and Lord of the Flies.
 

Blitzzz

Member
Started Shift Omnibus since my coworker and people here are reading it. Chose the audiobook version since I'm still reading through The Bat.

I'm not sure if it's the narrator but I find the congressman's chapters really boring with awkward dialog.
 

Krowley

Member
I finished The Sun Also Rises by Hemingway tonight, really enjoyed it. Checked out some discussion online and opinions seem really mixed(dissent on the internet, shocking!) with a majority being on the negative side, going by my brief perusal anyway.

I would really love to hear some thoughts from fellow GAFers. Things started slow, Paris seemed strange to me. An unending stream of places called by name, with no further description at all. It's the way a traveler would describe a stay to someone very familiar with the city, except I'm not, so it didn't amount to much. Once you've read a significant portion of the novel the purpose seems clear, it's no accident or boasting Hemingway's part. Instead, like a lot of the idle dialogue in Pamploma, it's meant to convey how the characters experience the city. Point is, Spain is amazing, it hit all the right notes for me. The early parts evoke so much of my own outings on hikes and to parks with family. The carrida, despite of how predictable you may think Hemingway's take on it will be going in, is beautifully captured. Would I personally attend given the chance? Probably not, but reading about it here was almost mesmerizing.

And then, there are the characters. I found them beautifully written, all showing different personalities, but at the same time having similar... flaws. Goes to show what a lack of motivation, responsibility and accountability will do and when the rot(sorry, Brett uses it so much, that's the word that came to mind) sets in, well I don't want to dwell too long; I didn't mean to write a long rambling thing anyway. Besides, someone may be enticed to read it and that's where the meat of the story is, so why spoil it?

Anyone have some thoughts they want to share? I want to keep talking/thinking about it, it's one of the most beautiful books I've read in a while. It's really taken some restrain on my part to not dump a wall of text here!

I read this book recently and loved it also.

The experience of reading it was very immersive and everything felt very authentic. I really love Hemingway's writing voice.
 

Bazza

Member
Just finished Feersum Endjinn great book, quite hard to follow if you don't have a great imagination, had to re read a few bits.

I think Bascule is on of my favorite book character now the, way his chapters are written just make you love him and they are enjoyable to read
and doing that I didn't really appreciate what mortal danger he was in beginning to end
.

Any one who has read it am I right in assuming the
Feersum endjinn is a massive great engine moving the solar system


Although its not his best of the books iv read (culture books and Against a dark background) it its left me with a happy feeling when I finished it
this might be the first book of his with a truly happy ending, all the other books I have have been bittersweet or left you analysing them for days after, that's great but a happy conclusion every now and again is nice.
 

Windam

Scaley member
zbl9aG2.jpg

So different from the anime. So good.

Post I made a few days ago:
250 pages later, and I must confess, the hype is warranted.

Don't think I've ever read a book with such impeccable pacing. I'm struggling to put it down. Each chapter is the perfect length, with the perfect amount of storytelling, with the perfect cliffhanger.

So good.

Bleh I bought the boxset of the first four books back in October, and started it then. I'm still only 300-something pages into A Game of Thrones. Feels like a chore to read it. I just can't get into it. :/
 

Necrovex

Member
Their Eyes Were Watching God - Zora Neale Hurston

Any good though?

Also what would you guys recommend? I have some choices in mind:
- Poisonwood Bible
- Lolita (although I already know what happens)
- The Plot Against America
- Memories of my Melancholy Whores
- Merrick (Anne Rice)

Edit, also:
- Tess of D'Urbervilles
- Lord of the Flies

What's the least heavy among them and preferably the most recommended?

I've been reading Lolita, and it is a very heavy novel. This isn't a novel that you can quickly read through without feeling a little loss. I'm aiming to finish the novel (even though it will probably take another month to force myself to continue the read), but it's damn good so far. The proses are really fun to read.

I recall really digging Lord of the Flies.
 
Just got a few things in. I've always been into astronomy and astrophysics - took classes in college - but just recently had a major resurgence in interest for both, nearly seven years after graduating. I never finished Brief History of Time and then I lost it. Also, I realized I should have a better grasp of world and American history than I do, hence those purchases.

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Finally finished Sunglasses After Dark yesterday. It was a short book, but very frustrating. I simply couldn't get into the structure, which features a massive flashback. I also didn't really care for the fantasy creatures, like trolls and such. I don't think I'll be reading any other Sonja Blue books.

Now, I'm tackling some more Edward Lee:

wBTvmUE.jpg


I've read this is one of Lee's more toned down stories. I guess I'll find out soon enough.
 
Glad you liked it. Cronin really is a gifted writer - it's like reading someone "paint" the words across the page. Apparently he came up with the story with his young daughter on daily bike rides to school. I gotta find time to read his second book in the trilogy that just came out. I highly recommend Cronin's "The Summer Guest" - it's neither sci-fi or S. King but it's mesmerizing writing.

I've been meaning to read "The Summer Guest" for years, maybe it is finally time to. Read an ARC of "The Twelve" last summer and have been hungry for more Cronin since..
 

Narag

Member

Big Medicine: A Western Quartet by Louis L'Amour

Another story collection. Kinda middling but I read that the 'Showdown at the Hogback' story was rewritten later on as the novel 'Showdown at Yellow Butte' I'll probably drift to that later on to appease curiosity and see what the story is like there. Hopefully it's a little more developed.



Last Wish by Andrzej Sapkowski

Figured I'd use it as a springboard to Blood of Elves and finish that before The Time of Contempt comes out in a few weeks. Third time through this and only this time did the Renfri story click with me. Went from my least favorite to my fave from the book as a consequence.
 

putarorex

Member
I am reading Erikson's the Bonehunters. I am really glad I have stuck it out with this series. Every book just seems to be getting better (I really liked Midnight Tides). I also rarely have to check a Malazan Wiki anymore while reading, but I still forget who certain people are sometimes.
 

Nymerio

Member
I am reading Erikson's the Bonehunters. I am really glad I have stuck it out with this series. Every book just seems to be getting better (I really liked Midnight Tides). I also rarely have to check a Malazan Wiki anymore while reading, but I still forget who certain people are sometimes.

Yeah it really picks up after the first book. I'd really like to read up on stuff in a wiki but I'm afraid of spoilers, so I'll wait till I'm through.
 

ShaneB

Member
Amazon hitting it out of the park with the dailies seeming like something I'd like. Kinda wish I bought the one yesterday, but ah well, this Love Anthony seems like I'd enjoy it as well.
 

Mastadon

Banned
Nope. Wrong.

Ha, this. Wolf Hall and the sequel are both fantastic.

I've just finished:

BwN8MT6.jpg


I really can't recommend this highly enough, it's absolutely beautiful and probably one of the most relatable accounts of war I've come across. The opening paragraph is one of the most striking that I've ever read.

"THE WAR TRIED to kill us in the spring. As green greened the plains of Nineveh and the weather warmed, we patrolled the low-slung hills beyond the cities and towns. We moved over them and through the tall grass on faith, kneading paths into he windswept growth like pioneers. While we slept, the war rubbed its thousand ribs against the ground in prayer. When we pressed onward through exhaustion, its eyes were white and open in the dark. While we ate, the war fasted, fed by its own deprivation. It made love and gave birth and spread through fire."

Now moving on to:

7Ve8Vhe.jpg


Cause I've heard it's pretty awesome.
 

Jag

Member
Figured I'd use it as a springboard to Blood of Elves and finish that before The Time of Contempt comes out in a few weeks. Third time through this and only this time did the Renfri story click with me. Went from my least favorite to my fave from the book as a consequence.

How are the Witcher books as a whole? I usually like to read the lore behind the games I play.
 

huxley00

Member
fNvDzhm.jpg


Sword and Claw series (Book of the New Sun)



Just finished it...was probably one of the best fantasy books I have ever read. I was extremely intrigued throughout the whole series. It weaves between genres, science fiction, fantasy, mystery, adventure, great great book. The writing is a bit heavy though and it does require attention to get through. If you like fantasy or science fiction, you are doing yourself a disservice by not reading this.
 
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