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[Fjordson]

I've been reading some non-fiction stuff to get me back into the swing of reading:

Loved it, though it's very in-depth and detailed and assumes the reader knows quite a bit about disco and a lot of early artists. Definitely had a few references fly right over my head :lol

Now moved on to:

Interesting book for sure. Macdonald isn't afraid to really lay into some of the bigger Beatles songs which is refreshing, and I find myself disagreeing with him on certain ones, but it's a pretty neat study of the Beatles' music overall.

 

[Necrovex]

(((((

World War Z is social commentry with a zombie war as the context. I hope the movie and title didn't lead you into thinking otherwise.

I went in expecting a radio host talking to various people about an ongoing zombie war or the aftermath, so my expectations were close to the reality. The premise is fine, however I really dislike Brooks's writing style. I was hoping for a bit more of a consistent cast too instead of dozens of random people. Brooks isn't talented enough to create multiple voices for the multitude of people that are interviewed.

I may give it another go once I finish Norwegian Woods, Ender's Game, and Battle Royale. Speaking of that, which of these should I read first? I'm leaning towards Norwegian Woods.

 

[Maklershed]

Do you have to read any of the other books in the series, or can you jump right into this one?

You could certainly enjoy it as a standalone but it would be for the best to have read the preceding books. You should read them anyway as they're all awesome.

 

[Wiktor]

I went in expecting a radio host talking to various people about an ongoing zombie war or the aftermath, so my expectations were close to the reality. The premise is fine, however I really dislike Brooks's writing style. I was hoping for a bit more of a consistent cast too instead of dozens of random people. Brooks isn't talented enough to create multiple voices for the multitude of people that are interviewed. .

Get the audiobook. Seriously. It's absolute blast and far far better than the print version. If there's one book one should listen instead of reading it's World War Z.

 

[Polishin8r]

just finished Brave New world good stuff want to read Huxley's Island any one read that?

 

[Necrovex]

Get the audiobook. Seriously. It's absolute blast and far far better than the print version. If there's one book one should listen instead of reading it's World War Z.

I have nothing to lose by this approach, so I just added it onto my library hold list. 20 people ahead of me, so I'll be waiting for a bit.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie is $1.99 today. Buy, buy, buy.

http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00480O978/?tag=neogaf0e-20

I always buy the hardcovers of Abercrombie's books because my brother and nephew read them after I've completed them. However, I do want to eventually add all his stuff to my digital library, so I'll double dip.

Also, Homeworld (Odyssey One) by Evan Currie -- someone here recommended it and I added it to my Kindle wish list -- is only $2 today.

 

[Piecake]

Anyone read The man without qualities by Robert Musil? Would you recommend it? What about In search of lost time by Proust?

Those are some heavy hitters, lol.

Ive read Swan's Way and really enjoyed it, which you might find odd since I loath Joyce with a fierce passion. I haven't read The Man without Qualities, but I have read Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, which, I think is in a similar vein so you might want to check that out. Plus, that book is shorter and, ive heard, 'easier'

 

[Fusebox]

Finished 14 yesterday:

Great fun to read, very light sci-fi almost on a similar tip to the TV show Lost but much shorter. Definitely worth the day or so needed to knock it over.

Started All You Need Is Kill last night and didn't go to sleep until my Kindle said I was 52% of the way through. This is a very fast, very enjoyable read. The writing was a little blunt to start (might be the translation) but I soon forget about that and got caught up in the surprisingly engaging story.

 

[Don't Laugh]

how the grinch stole Christmas

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

Just finished A Storm of Swords and could not resist starting A Feast for Crows. Goddammit, I need to know what happens.

I've got to say, I really like the start of book four. I'm so glad to see the rest of Westeros and how it copes with all the events of the first three books. All the characters already seem very interesting. Also, I'm stoked to gain further perspective into some of these exotic lands that were mentioned in passing before. Oldtown seems awesome.

 

[Tragicomedy]

Finished Wayward by Blake Crouch. ★★★★ - Great follow up to the first book, providing a lot of explanation for what is going on and why. Even darker and more dreary than the first. Cliffhanger ending. Part three comes out next year, and I'm in.

 

[Zona]

So, having finished Abaddon's Gate I can safely say I give it a resounding... Meh. Overall the series was competent and it ended adequately.

 

[Paganmoon]

So, having finished Abaddon's Gate I can safely say I give it a resounding... Meh. Overall the series was competent and it ended adequately.

While the latest book was pretty Meh, I agree (

Spoiler

Damnit if they make Clarissa part of the crew...

), the series hasn't ended. It got popular enough for the publisher to order more, and the fourth book, Cibola Burn, is expected this coming June.

The cover for 14 is really nice, might look into it just cause of that hehe.

 

[berg ark]

Those are some heavy hitters, lol.

Ive read Swan's Way and really enjoyed it, which you might find odd since I loath Joyce with a fierce passion. I haven't read The Man without Qualities, but I have read Magic Mountain by Thomas Mann, which, I think is in a similar vein so you might want to check that out. Plus, that book is shorter and, ive heard, 'easier'

How was Swan's Way, did you enjoy it? I've been looking at Mann, especially Magic Mountain (Der Zauberberg) since I have them in my room, but I feel like I want to delve deep into something, and just, if I don't have any studies at least, try to see what it's like - the real heavy stuff. The longest I've read so far is The Idiot by Dostoevsky, but I would guess The Man without Qualities is like three times longer than that, which I wouldn't mind.

 

[Bazza]

Read Sharpe's Tiger over the weekend, Had the book long enough but as it's the first in a series I wanted to get everything else i was reading out the way first which looks like it was a good call as i have already moved on to the 2nd book.

Got Dangerous Women to read next week, but apart from that it looks like the next months reading is going to be Sharpe all the way.

Update: About 30% into book 2

Spoiler

Obadeiah Hakeswill is such a shit, I really hope his eventual death is painful

 

[arkon]

I've been thinking about doing this, but man, the length is kind of daunting. :/ I might do it and skip the flashback chapters or something.

You could follow along with the re-read on tor.com! They're up to chapter 46 right now.

http://www.tor.com/features/series/the-way-of-kings-reread-on-torcom
---

I managed to finish off The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg. It was a weird reading experience. Took me longer than it normally would to finish off a book of this size. I normally get through them in about 4-5 days. Whenever I'd set it aside I didn't always feel compelled to pick it back up. It was only in the final third where I was glued to the book and finished it in a few hours whereas I spent over a week reading through it up to that point.

It's basically a murder mystery in a renaissance-era fantasy world told from a first person POV. The writing is strong but it didn't always hold my attention. I'd find my thoughts wandering when reading certain passages, almost skimming over them at times. The characterization is good. Hardly the most unique set of characters yet they still feel real and I want to see what happens next with them. The main mystery is solved in this book with enough dangling plot threads to provide a good setup for the later books. I notice the next book is from a different POV. Could be interesting to see these characters from a different angle.

The biggest compliment I can pay it is that after finishing it I wanted to read the next one as soon as possible. Unfortunately I don't have that yet but it should be on its way to me.

In the meantime I'm starting on The Scroll of Years by Chris Willrich

 

[mu cephei]

I managed to finish off The Spirit Lens by Carol Berg. It was a weird reading experience. Took me longer than it normally would to finish off a book of this size. I normally get through them in about 4-5 days. Whenever I'd set it aside I didn't always feel compelled to pick it back up. It was only in the final third where I was glued to the book and finished it in a few hours whereas I spent over a week reading through it up to that point.

It's basically a murder mystery in a renaissance-era fantasy world told from a first person POV. The writing is strong but it didn't always hold my attention. I'd find my thoughts wandering when reading certain passages, almost skimming over them at times. The characterization is good. Hardly the most unique set of characters yet they still feel real and I want to see what happens next with them. The main mystery is solved in this book with enough dangling plot threads to provide a good setup for the later books. I notice the next book is from a different POV. Could be interesting to see these characters from a different angle.

The biggest compliment I can pay it is that after finishing it I wanted to read the next one as soon as possible. Unfortunately I don't have that yet but it should be on its way to me.

In the meantime I'm starting on The Scroll of Years by Chris Willrich

Ah, thanks for that. Sounds promising. I'll have to give the series a go (though not at the moment as I've placed myself under a total book-buying ban).

 

[Piecake]

How was Swan's Way, did you enjoy it? I've been looking at Mann, especially Magic Mountain (Der Zauberberg) since I have them in my room, but I feel like I want to delve deep into something, and just, if I don't have any studies at least, try to see what it's like - the real heavy stuff. The longest I've read so far is The Idiot by Dostoevsky, but I would guess The Man without Qualities is like three times longer than that, which I wouldn't mind.

Its been a while, a long while, so I really can't remember the details, but I thought the new translation was very well written and the main character interesting. I remember the writing style to be difficult, yet beautiful. I thought it was a worthwhile read at the time. I wouldnt put it as one of my favorites, but I enjoyed it and am glad I read it

Personally, I think The Magic Mountain is plenty heavy by itself. Though its heavy in ideas, philosophy and characters, not writing style, which is honestly something that I prefer. I hate having to spend 3 times as long reading something to figure out what the hell the author is even talking about (my hatred of Joyce and Pynchon stems from this)

If you want something super long, go with The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin. I know Mumei will back me up on it!

 

[Necrovex]

My decision of what to read was made quickly when I saw the library gave me a mass paperback version of Ender's Game; mass paperback is an abomination that needs to disappear.

So I am reading, what many would consider Murakami's best work:

 

[The Artful Dodger]

Picked up a comic to take a short break from reading dense novels.

This is super fantastic, I need to read more of the series. Definitely recommend it.

 

[Mannequin]

Interesting book for sure. Macdonald isn't afraid to really lay into some of the bigger Beatles songs which is refreshing, and I find myself disagreeing with him on certain ones, but it's a pretty neat study of the Beatles' music overall.

Love this book. I also like how he isn't afraid of being critical.

 

[todahawk]

re-reading Neuromancer and starting "Amusing Ourselves to Death" by Neil Postman (again)... been too distracted to read consistently much.

like the imagery of the old cover better...

 

[Error]

Finished reading this finally. I really enjoyed it, the story is paced just right and the characters are good and well written. The only thing that bothered me was some fo the feats the characters in the novel pull off, feels like right out of superhero comic which to me clash with the hyper-realistic description of the technology used in the novel. the kindle version is sadly full of grammatical errors and typos, they don't really detract from the overall story and the writting isn't affected that much by them but they were definitely there.

4/5 recommended if you like techno-thrillers, espionage, conspiracies, cyberpunk mixed with a bit of buddhism.

 

[Maklershed]

Finished The Silver Spike (Black Company Chronicle book ... 4?) and taking a quick break with the series to read Jurassic Park


Jurassic Park by Michael Crichton

All I know of this is the movie that I've seen a billion times since a kid and I'm already surprised at the description of Grant as a 40 something, barrel chested, bearded manly man and Ellie as a 24 year old.

 

[pizza dog]

Friends I tried to read something that wasn't written by a white person or in English so I grabbed a preview chapter from Journey to the West and it is ROUGH. I can't tell if the translation I have is shit or if it's just that yo that book is mad old.

Anyone recommend a good translation? I could also be into Outlaws of the Marsh.

 

[lightus]

Finished up Caliban's War by James S.A. Corey. I really enjoyed it. I liked the new characters and the perspective they provided. The plot was weaker than first book but had good pacing and I never felt bored. The ending is killing me, looking forward to starting the third book.

Next up is The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson. Been holding this one off till Thanksgiving so that I actually have some time to work through it.

 

[Leeness]

Getting to the end of IT.

Spoiler

Eddie just died :'(

 

[Grenouille]

More than halfway through Neuromancer and im still surprised with the negative opinions it gets in this thread now and then.

I love matrix, blade runner, moebius and enki bilal, and this seems like a big mixture of all those.
It can get a bit confusing with some descriptions, and the

Spoiler

space rastafari

were kind of weird. so far so good though.

 

[ShaneB]

Was in the mood for a Football book, and Mak pointed this one out to me a while ago, so among the mountain of football books that could be interesting, I decided to try this one out. I bought Jay Onrait's book as well, so I'll read that next, should be hilarious.

Now reading...Slow Getting Up

 

[Nymerio]

I'm about 70% through Gone Girl. Holy Shit. This book. Absolutely love it.

 

[Burger]

★★★☆☆

This book was not what I expected. Expectations that were set by Simmons' previous book 'The Terror' and the cover & title of Abominable. Those two things set a story in my mind before I even turned the first page.

The Abominable is set into 3 largely equal parts. The Climbers, The Mountain & The Abominable. The first part meanders around parts of England, Austria, India and Nepal, introducing the 3 main characters of the story. The Mountain focuses on Everest, sherpas, base camps, oxygen bottles and the climb. The latter third is where all the bad things happen.

Simmons dives deep into the climbing techniques, history and technology of high altitude climbing in the 1920's. Most of which while interesting was not particularly fascinating, and the first part of the story crawls along while we explore the state of mountain climbing in this day and age.

The second part, The Mountain was where I expected the pace to markedly quicken but ultimately fails to do so. Reading this book without a modicum of knowledge of Mount Everest is quite the barrier to understanding what the hell is going or what the setting is like, despite the authors best attempts to describe the locations and situations. Talking about the North Col, the Second Step without an illustrated map makes it quite difficult to picture the mountain as Simmons describes it.

Unfortunately the book falls apart in part three. Your expectations for what you thought was coming are suddenly met, then swiped away in a few pages. I don't want to spoil it, but it's a shame the story went the way it did because it makes little sense.

Like The Terror, The Abominable is terribly well researched. Simmons shows an expert grasp on the mountaineering techniques of the time and the geopolitical climate around Everest. Unfortunately I was waiting for a payoff that never came, and was left disappointed due to my own expectations I had of the story which I don't think were unfair.

 

[Salvor.Hardin]

I'm about two-thirds into this book and I'm absolutely loving it. It chronicles the territorial gains made by the British and Russian Empires in Central Asia during the 19th Century. It's particularly incredible given the tactical and espionage strategies they used which went as far as soldiers dressing up as Afghans under the guise of spreading religion all whilst mapping the region and retrieving much useful intelligence for the respective empires.

If you've ever wondered where so much of fantasy and fiction traces its roots, its in these missions where the British and Russians were traveling to long lost land locked empires buried in sand, and in mysterious forts, negotiating with viziers and princes whilst trying to strengthen their economic and strategic gains.

This book also provides an incredible amount of context to the relationship that the Western world has to countries like Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

If you enjoyed Rubicon by Tom Holland, you'll love this.

 

[berg ark]

Its been a while, a long while, so I really can't remember the details, but I thought the new translation was very well written and the main character interesting. I remember the writing style to be difficult, yet beautiful. I thought it was a worthwhile read at the time. I wouldnt put it as one of my favorites, but I enjoyed it and am glad I read it

Personally, I think The Magic Mountain is plenty heavy by itself. Though its heavy in ideas, philosophy and characters, not writing style, which is honestly something that I prefer. I hate having to spend 3 times as long reading something to figure out what the hell the author is even talking about (my hatred of Joyce and Pynchon stems from this)

If you want something super long, go with The Story of the Stone by Cao Xueqin. I know Mumei will back me up on it!

Thanks for your comments. You've actually almost convinced me to begin with Magic Mountain, as I said, I've heard very good things about Mann. Right now I'm reading Max Brods Kafkabiography, so I'm very much in tune with that era, I feel. Something I actually don't want to lose right now, since I find the period very interesting indeed, the break into the modern era and the modern humans quests, struggles and pains. I will def. check out The Story of the Stone (not sure if you were being ironic, it still sparked my interest!).

 

[Mumei]

Thanks for your comments. You've actually almost convinced me to begin with Magic Mountain, as I said, I've heard very good things about Mann. Right now I'm reading Max Brods Kafkabiography, so I'm very much in tune with that era, I feel. Something I actually don't want to lose right now, since I find the period very interesting indeed, the break into the modern era and the modern humans quests, struggles and pains. I will def. check out The Story of the Stone (not sure if you were being ironic, it still sparked my interest!).

Oh, he wasn't. It is one of the best books I've ever read, and it is also very long.

 

[todahawk]

More than halfway through Neuromancer and im still surprised with the negative opinions it gets in this thread now and then.

I love matrix, blade runner, moebius and enki bilal, and this seems like a big mixture of all those.
It can get a bit confusing with some descriptions, and the

Spoiler

space rastafari

were kind of weird. so far so good though.

Neuromancer is one of my all time favs, especially considering when it was written. A friend of mine recommended it to me and for me it wasn't the easiest read the first time through but the more I read it the more I appreciate it. Great characters, great imagery, insanely fleshed out and detailed world. Dunno, Gibson's Sprawl series just really does it for me...

 

[SBH]

I picked up this years ago and read it. Now I needed something to read and saw it in my bookshelf. I'm now 200 pages in on one sitting and I think I will read the rest before I go to sleep.

It really lets you see the world through the eyes of someone so different.

 

[Pau]

I'm about two-thirds into this book and I'm absolutely loving it. It chronicles the territorial gains made by the British and Russian Empires in Central Asia during the 19th Century. It's particularly incredible given the tactical and espionage strategies they used which went as far as soldiers dressing up as Afghans under the guise of spreading religion all whilst mapping the region and retrieving much useful intelligence for the respective empires.

If you've ever wondered where so much of fantasy and fiction traces its roots, its in these missions where the British and Russians were traveling to long lost land locked empires buried in sand, and in mysterious forts, negotiating with viziers and princes whilst trying to strengthen their economic and strategic gains.

This book also provides an incredible amount of context to the relationship that the Western world has to countries like Iran, Iraq, Afghanistan and Pakistan.

If you enjoyed Rubicon by Tom Holland, you'll love this.

This sounds pretty damn interesting. Thanks for posting! Going on my to-read list.

 

[Tragicomedy]

I picked up this years ago and read it. Now I needed something to read and saw it in my bookshelf. I'm now 200 pages in on one sitting and I think I will read the rest before I go to sleep.

It really lets you see the world through the eyes of someone so different.

Beautiful freaking book.

 

[sparky2112]

Read Sharpe's Tiger over the weekend, Had the book long enough but as it's the first in a series I wanted to get everything else i was reading out the way first which looks like it was a good call as i have already moved on to the 2nd book.

Got Dangerous Women to read next week, but apart from that it looks like the next months reading is going to be Sharpe all the way.

Update: About 30% into book 2

Spoiler

Obadeiah Hakeswill is such a shit, I really hope his eventual death is painful

Cornwell is quite the writer, isn't he? A *tad* formulaic, but he writes battle scenes that are second to none. Plus, he's wicked prolific, which is great.

 

[ShaneB]

I picked up this years ago and read it. Now I needed something to read and saw it in my bookshelf. I'm now 200 pages in on one sitting and I think I will read the rest before I go to sleep.

It really lets you see the world through the eyes of someone so different.

Beautiful freaking book.

Agreed. One of my favourite books I've read this year.

 

[Leeness]

Finished It.

Great book. Took me a while because I took a bit of a break, but still a great book. Very ambitious and sprawling and loved the back and forth between the two confrontations.

Spoiler

Stan and Eddie and I'm sad they all lost their memories of each other. Their friendship was really sweet (all the "I love you"s and such) so it's sad they don't remember anymore...

Beep beep Richie.

 

[Bazza]

Finished Sharpe's Triumph last night

Spoiler

Fucking Obadiah Hakeswill killing McCandless, poor old boy never got to retire in Scotland

Got straight into Sharpe's Fortress

On a non Sharpe note the 1st 3 Culture books are on one of the UK Amazon daily deals at 4pm if anyone was thinking of reading them.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/product/0356502090/ref=gb1h_img_c-1_8907_717e7527?pf_rd_m=A3P5ROKL5A1OLE&pf_rd_t=101&pf_rd_s=center-1&pf_rd_r=0NZQZ56TSP27J30CMWHG&pf_rd_i=350613011&pf_rd_p=449478907

 

[Arksy]

I read both Assassin's Apprentice and Royal Assassin this month but when I got to Assassin's Quest I got really fucking bored at the dumb direction the storyline took.

So I read Ender's Game instead.

Anyone know if Name of the Wind is any good?

 

[Ratrat]

Huh, I'm reading Sharpes Tiger too. Nearly done and finding it not so good. Cartoony two-dimensional characters, not that funny. I'll stick with Flashman and Aubrey I think.

Also finished my 4th Culture book, Player of Games and loved it!

 

[i_am_ben]

recently read this. It was a good read but it just fell flat at the end.

 

[Nymerio]

Finished Gone Girl yesterday. I think this is the book I liked the most out of all the books I've read this year. The ending wasn't quite what I wanted but it was amazing nonetheless.

 

[Mumei]

I'm terribly sorry, ReadingGAF. I haven't been updating the way I should! My last update was on October 13th:

I am currently reading:

The Girl Who Soared Over Fairyland and Cut the Moon in Two, by Catherynne M. Valente (90/256)
Gravity's Rainbow, by Thomas Pynchon (573/776)
Dubliners, by James Joyce (94/285)
1Q84, by Haruki Murakami (800/925)

I'd like to finish the first and fourth by next Sunday, and all four in the next two weeks. Not sure what I'm going to read after that.

So! I have finished reading all four of those, and I've also read Reading Don't Fix No Chevys: Literacy in the Lives of Young Men; Raising My Rainbow: Adventures in Raising a Fabulous, Gender Creative Son; The Missionary Position: Mother Teresa in Theory and Practice; Born to Run: A Hidden Tribe, Superathletes, and the Greatest Race the World Has Never Seen; Vinland Saga 1; The Moral Lives of Animals; and La Nilsson: My Life in Opera.

I am currently reading Last Ape Standing: The Seven-Million-Year Story of How and Why We Survived and Shriek: An Afterword. I love Shriek, and it makes me want to go back and reread City of Saints and Madmen.

 

[Necrovex]

I'm terribly sorry, ReadingGAF. I haven't been updating the way I should! My last update was on October 13th:



So! I have finished reading all four of those.

How did you like 1Q84?

 

[zeemumu]

Finished It.

Beep beep Richie.