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What are you reading? (October 2012)
- Thread starter Maklershed
- Start date
They stand alone, but certain returning characters will be unfamiliar to you. I would read them in order.
Mackenzie 92
Member
BanShunsaku
Member
Thanks guys, I'll probably pick up Best Served Cold on my way home tonight - been meaning to read it for ages now.
Cheers!
Cheers!
Thanks a lot for letting me know there is a Douglas Adams official bio. This is why I love this thread.
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Finished Casino Royale and I liked it a lot.
Just started re-reading Brave new world.
German version. I liked it but I have to say that I liked her last three or four books better. The characters are still great and quirky but I was missing the thrill in this one. The whole crime story was not really gripping and I found myself not really careing who the murderer was, which is not a good thing in a crime novel I guess. Was still an easy and fun read though.
Around halfway through and really liking it. Definitly one of the strangest books I've read so far. I have a bad feeling though that I won't get a happy ending... it just does not seem like a book that will let you of on a happy note.
Up next:
This was a mistake, I should have known it. 3/4 of the way through the second book now. No choice but to burn straight through the trilogy at this point.
Exact same thing when I read Hunger Games. Why am I such a sucker for young-adult scifi?
hardcastlemccormick
Banned
Picked up some books from a library used book sale. About to crack into The Handmaid's Tale and Steppenwolf.
I hated the 2nd and 3rd book of Hunger Games, so I'm curious to see the trend. Feel free to spoiler rant.
I hated the 2nd and 3rd book of Hunger Games, so I'm curious to see the trend. Feel free to spoiler rant.
Mackenzie 92
Member
Went to the library for the first time in forever (thanks to bengravens post) and found a lot of cool stuff, not sure when I will find the time for it all, but I couldn't help myself.
Freedom's Landing by Anne McCaffrey
Iron Warriors: The Omnibus by Graham McNeill
The Last Theorem by Arthur C. Clarke
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
I, Zombie by Hugh Howey
Borderlands: The Fallen by John Shirley
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
Freedom's Landing by Anne McCaffrey
Iron Warriors: The Omnibus by Graham McNeill
The Last Theorem by Arthur C. Clarke
Storm Front by Jim Butcher
I, Zombie by Hugh Howey
Borderlands: The Fallen by John Shirley
Fahrenheit 451 by Ray Bradbury
I haven't updated in a tick, so... recently:
I read Bendis and Brubaker's runs on Daredevil, three issues of The Adventures of Tintin (in America, Cigars of the Pharaoh, and The Blue Lotus), How Not To Read, and I *finally* finished the Norton Anthology of Children's Literature (2400 pages later...).
And I am 609 pages into William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Gripping stuff. Don't spoil the ending for me.
I read Bendis and Brubaker's runs on Daredevil, three issues of The Adventures of Tintin (in America, Cigars of the Pharaoh, and The Blue Lotus), How Not To Read, and I *finally* finished the Norton Anthology of Children's Literature (2400 pages later...).
And I am 609 pages into William Shirer's The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich. Gripping stuff. Don't spoil the ending for me.
Oh man...no spoilers from me, but I loved this book. Gripping is a good descriptor.
Check out Neil Gaiman's unofficial bio of DNA, too!
Ah, my bad. Though still impressive!
ahaha, I finished two of the books but I can't get myself to start third.
Finished All the Shah's Men, now moving on 500 Days: Secrets and Lies in the Terror Wars by Kurt Eichenwald
http://amzn.com/1451669380
http://amzn.com/1451669380
Just finished Gone Girl by Gillian Flynn.
I hated it.. thought it was awful. It was well written which is why I kept reading it but the story just was not enjoyable.
Not sure what I'm going to dive into next. My Kindle Paperwhite arrives on Monday if Hurricane Sandy doesn't do her thing so I'm excited.
I hated it.. thought it was awful. It was well written which is why I kept reading it but the story just was not enjoyable.
Not sure what I'm going to dive into next. My Kindle Paperwhite arrives on Monday if Hurricane Sandy doesn't do her thing so I'm excited.
Angelus Errare
Banned
Almost finished with
Then afterwards I'll start on.
Also have in queue.
Then afterwards I'll start on.
Also have in queue.
Tim the Wiz
Banned
Been reading a bunch of genre short fiction. Of the bunch, Spar by Kij Johnson and The Cartographer Wasps and the Anarchist Bees by E Lily Yu stick out. Might finally check out Kelly Link and Ted Chiang properly.
Nice. Doc Smith is always in my backlog, along with pulp legends like Jim Thompson and Don Westlake. Otherwise, is your novel-in-progress Bujold-like space opera or more British Wave hard sf?
Nice. Doc Smith is always in my backlog, along with pulp legends like Jim Thompson and Don Westlake. Otherwise, is your novel-in-progress Bujold-like space opera or more British Wave hard sf?
BlazingDarkness
Member
Going to get lost in this
I thought 'Spar' was fucking awful. (Pun unintended.) Still can't believe it got as much praise as it did. Ted Chiang, on the other hand, now there's some good short fiction.
This is a long shot, but was wondering if anybody could help me. I was reading a book on my wife's kindle, and the screen ended up stopped working. I have no idea what the book was called, but it was about the history of medicine, and it was actually pretty good. I have only got through the first chapter so far, but it was talking about how doctors back in the day would self experiment on different herbs/chemicals.
I would love to read the rest of it, but I don't think I can't remember the name of the book, and she has no idea what book I am talking about.. lol
It's not "The Greatest Benefit to Mankind" by Roy Porter?
Tim the Wiz
Banned
I doubt 'Spar' will have much of a legacy, but it doesn't pull its punches (pun sadly intended!), and it uses the brevity of the form to its advantage. Definitely a leg up on a lot of the recent stuff I've read on the online sf mags. Not to say that the general level of prose out there isn't impressive, but there seems to be a lot of blandness too.
That's the never-ending Liaden series Fnordchan is always recommending, right? Speaking to the former at least, I can definitely see that strain of space opera as a good fit with your style.
Thanks, but I found it already in a previous post, was able to find it by looking at her purchase history. Apparently it was a part of an amazon deal of the day months ago and she never got around to reading it.
I am about halfway through it now, and I am still enjoying reading it.
Mister_Bubbles
Member
I'm currently stuck in hospital so have a lot of time to catch up with stuff I've wanted to read. I finished House of Leaves, which was brilliantly eerie and a fascinating observation on narrative wankery, and am now continuing an ongoing long term goal of reading all of the Discworld series. I'm getting to the end of 'Men at Arms' now, which I've enjoyed but Witches Abroad has been one of my favourites so far in this run (which started with 'Guards! Guards!').
Finished up The White Luck Warrior and now I'm reading The Black Prism.
I need a simple Brent Weeks type book after the complicated and drawn out R. Scott Bakker epic. Plus I've heard some decent things in this thread and elsewhere that indicated that The Black Prism is a good start to a promising trilogy.
I just wish something major would come out. Actually I'm only looking forward to The Winds of Winter and the second Stormlight Archive book by Brandon Sanderson at the moment.
I think after I read the first two books of this newer series I might go to something old school I haven't read yet like Foundation.
I need a simple Brent Weeks type book after the complicated and drawn out R. Scott Bakker epic. Plus I've heard some decent things in this thread and elsewhere that indicated that The Black Prism is a good start to a promising trilogy.
I just wish something major would come out. Actually I'm only looking forward to The Winds of Winter and the second Stormlight Archive book by Brandon Sanderson at the moment.
I think after I read the first two books of this newer series I might go to something old school I haven't read yet like Foundation.
Candeldandel
Member
Just finished
about a week ago, and just started on
and I'm really liking it. I knew about Snow Crash for a long, long time, but I never got around to reading it. It was my ex's favorite, and he told me that I should read it time and time again. I never did. Now that I am reading it, it reminds me of him like woah, so it's a little weird in that respect.
Still good though. /sigh
about a week ago, and just started on
and I'm really liking it. I knew about Snow Crash for a long, long time, but I never got around to reading it. It was my ex's favorite, and he told me that I should read it time and time again. I never did. Now that I am reading it, it reminds me of him like woah, so it's a little weird in that respect.
Still good though. /sigh
Reading Michael Cobley's Seeds of Earth (a trilogy, called Humanity's Fire).
Bought it because i needed something to read and i decided i'll choose something blindly. Otherwise i need a long time to decide what to read.
It is your standard space opera... with too many alien words. Googled it quickly and noticed it wasn't very well received by readers. Oh, well, i'll read this first part but i doubt i'll get the rest of the trilogy, at least not before hearing if they're better.
I wouldn't call this bad but it is just standard stuff.
Not getting why someone complained about it not bringing anything new to SF genre. Seriously? Doubt there is any more to be brought to the genre, but i don't care either way, all i want is a good SF story that is preferrably hard scifi.
Hard scifi space opera would be nice (not Alastair Reynolds though, read those already).
Bought it because i needed something to read and i decided i'll choose something blindly. Otherwise i need a long time to decide what to read.
It is your standard space opera... with too many alien words. Googled it quickly and noticed it wasn't very well received by readers. Oh, well, i'll read this first part but i doubt i'll get the rest of the trilogy, at least not before hearing if they're better.
I wouldn't call this bad but it is just standard stuff.
Not getting why someone complained about it not bringing anything new to SF genre. Seriously? Doubt there is any more to be brought to the genre, but i don't care either way, all i want is a good SF story that is preferrably hard scifi.
Hard scifi space opera would be nice (not Alastair Reynolds though, read those already).
BanShunsaku
Member
Read these two over the weekend:
Started this today:
Started this today:
nakedsushi
Member
^-- How did you like Mr. Penumbra?
Finished Skies of Fire in less than a day. It's like a cheeto for my brain. Fast and fun, but with no substance. Pretty much what you see on the cover is what you get in the book.
Skies of Fire by Zoe Archer
It had elements of all of my favorite things: airships, spying, romance, and big explosions (in the sky, not in his pants!)
Still currently reading:
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
I want to finish this before I see the movie. So far it's great and the people-interactions sometimes makes me chuckle. Unfortunately, if a character isn't mentioned in a couple of chapters, I forget what their relationship to the other characters is so now it seems like everyone is just related to everyone else, which gets kind of creepy when so-and-so mentions his wife.
Also got started on:
The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer
I really love the prose so far and the sense of nostalgia I get when reading this. It definitely evokes a sense of a different time. My only complaint (and I'm only 60 or so pages in) is that most of the men seem like asses so far.
Finished Skies of Fire in less than a day. It's like a cheeto for my brain. Fast and fun, but with no substance. Pretty much what you see on the cover is what you get in the book.
Skies of Fire by Zoe Archer
It had elements of all of my favorite things: airships, spying, romance, and big explosions (in the sky, not in his pants!)
Still currently reading:
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy
I want to finish this before I see the movie. So far it's great and the people-interactions sometimes makes me chuckle. Unfortunately, if a character isn't mentioned in a couple of chapters, I forget what their relationship to the other characters is so now it seems like everyone is just related to everyone else, which gets kind of creepy when so-and-so mentions his wife.
Also got started on:
The Tender Bar by J.R. Moehringer
I really love the prose so far and the sense of nostalgia I get when reading this. It definitely evokes a sense of a different time. My only complaint (and I'm only 60 or so pages in) is that most of the men seem like asses so far.
BanShunsaku
Member
I didn't want it to end!
Found it really enjoyable, as someone with a design background I loved all the
font
Only thing negative I would say is that in a few places it felt a little rushed, I wished there was more depth given to the relationships. But overall a really good, fun read.
Kyleripman
Member
Just started
It's a short one so figuring I'll be done tonight.
Let me know what you think of that one. I feel like Stephen King is at his best when he writes huge books and gives himself time to fully explore an idea. This story, for me, seemed like a cool basic idea that ultimately was underdeveloped and unfulfilling.
I've heard a lot of good about this one, will add to my list.
nakedsushi
Member
Yeah about that:
do you think he was talking about Garamond but couldn't use it b/c of rights issues
BanShunsaku
Member
Yeah I figure it is meant to be Garamond, based on the Apple stuff.
Any book that focuses so much on Typography is a winner in my opinion!
Any book that focuses so much on Typography is a winner in my opinion!
Finished this today:
500 Days: Decisions and Deceptions in the Shadow of 9/11 by Kurt Eichenwald
I really can't recommend this enough. It reads like a novel because of the way he structures the narrative and presents the events. The content is frightening. I knew the broad strokes of what happened but getting all these details is really sickening.
500 Days: Decisions and Deceptions in the Shadow of 9/11 by Kurt Eichenwald
I really can't recommend this enough. It reads like a novel because of the way he structures the narrative and presents the events. The content is frightening. I knew the broad strokes of what happened but getting all these details is really sickening.
nakedsushi
Member
The Goodreads 2012 Choice Awards has begun its opening round!
http://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2012
I'm sad to say that I didn't vote in all the categories yet because I haven't read any of the books in some of the categories. I'm going to try to read at least one book from each category just so I can justify my votes.
http://www.goodreads.com/choiceawards/best-books-2012
I'm sad to say that I didn't vote in all the categories yet because I haven't read any of the books in some of the categories. I'm going to try to read at least one book from each category just so I can justify my votes.