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[jon bones]

now about halfway through this, it's picking up slowly

Spoiler

I like the Logen / Bayaz chemistry - especially the last scene I read where they buy costumes before they visit the Agriont.

New character Ferro is annoying as hell but she's only been there for one chapter so we'll see.

I wonder what Ardee West's purpose is - is she just the love interest for Luthor or....?

Unless this gets NUTS in the last 3/4, I will probably take a break and read something else before continuing the series.

 

[BruceLeeRoy]

I just finished this epic beast yesterday:

Really liked it. I did feel kind of jipped that you get to spend almost 900 pages of the book reading about

Spoiler

William and Walleran shitting on the protagonists over and over and then are given only 15 pages of revenge.

Though because the book is primarily centered around the cathedral it makes sense. Excellent writing though there wasn't a characters story that didn't pull me in.

Next on the docket is:

 

[Dwight Schrute]

This, and loving it so far.

EDIT : I may post in the fantasy topic, but i've read GRR Martin, Cook, Goodkind, Robin Hobb, Raymond E Feist... (loved the bolded) all good fantasy books translated in french. Now i'm starting to read fantasy in english, cannot wait for months the translations that may not come. So I started this serie. What else do you think I may like ?

 

[Fritz]

Reading for my college class. I haven't read a lot of it. Only a few chapters in, but I am loving the interactions of the characters.

One of my all time favourites. Heathcliff is such a bad ass, a true force of nature. Its also the best lovestory ever to be put into words. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.

 

[peakish]

The Wind-up Bird Chronicle by Haruki Murakami

I read two novels by this author last winter ('Norwegian Wood' and 'Kafka on the Shore') and pretty much loved them, but I was kinda worn-out on his style after that (I was kinda tired half-way through Kafka tbh, liked it nontheless) so I waited until now to read more of his stuff.

I'm not that far into it yet, about 100 pages, kinda waiting for the story to begin, but I like it so far. The start was very interesting in a surreal way.

Course literature, but really fun to read, I love this shit.


Last but (absolutely) not least: Moby Dick by Herman Melville, as an audio book. Man, this is some word heavy shit. I kinda like it a few chapters in, but it will take a while to finish.

 

[John Dunbar]

i loved wuthering heights. i'm such a girl, tee-hee.

 

[Bananakin]

Course literature, but really fun to read, I love this shit.

Whoa, weird to see this book pop up on neogaf. I was just looking through it earlier today for GRE prep. One of my favourite undergrad textbooks. Has good explanations and good questions.

 

[Skittleguy]

Im about to start this book next week. Let me kno how it is.

It's pretty good. Story makes use of lots of mythology, and the ending was satisfying. I recommend it to anyone who likes a good Neil Gaiman story.

In other news, I was wondering if the book nerds of Gaf can help me identify a book a saw once. I can't remember the title or author, but I can remember two distinct things:
1) the cover (which was slipcased due to it's nature) had a black guy being crucified by pop culture icons
2) the plot involved some evangelical guy having to go to a "pray-the-gay-away" camp after a "life-altering" experience in a truck stop restroom.

Any leads would be appreciated.

 

[jason10mm]

EDIT : I may post in the fantasy topic, but i've read GRR Martin, Cook, Goodkind, Robin Hobb, Raymond E Feist... (loved the bolded) all good fantasy books translated in french. Now i'm starting to read fantasy in english, cannot wait for months the translations that may not come. So I started this serie. What else do you think I may like ?

Well, Martin and Erikson are the two best fantasy epics going, IMHO. I tried Goodkin but hated every page. Old Feist was decent.

Anyway, try the Shadowlands series by Tad Williams. Well worn stuff, but it is in the Martin vein. For a little lighter fare, try whatever Greg Keyes series has the Blood Knight in it. Pretty good as well. If you want a REALLY fast heavily Tolkein based series, try Dennis McKeirnan's "Dark Tide" trilogy (all three are now collected in one book, still less than 600 pages I think). If you want serious punishment, start off with the first Thomas Convenant book by Stephen Donaldson. Just stock up on the lithium first Then there is the calssic Black Company series by Glen Cook. These are also being compiled.

I'm reading Morgan somebodys "Queen of the Orcs: King's Property" free on the Kindle. Pretty good, one of the better "Orc POV" fantasy books (though I guess technically it is from a humans POV). Grim and gritty, probably more faithful to a real medieval standard of living than most fantasy books (I think the main character has yet to get SHOES and I'm halfway through the book

 

[Broseybrose]

@peakish: Murakami is one of my top 3 favorite authors and Wind Up Bird Chronicle is his opus. Magnificent book.

But i just came in to post that Glass Bead Game is better than i couldve hoped. Hesse's opus as well. He, too, is one of my top 3 authors (the other being Salinger) and im pretty sure that by the time im done with it the Glass Bead Game will be my favorite work of Hesse's.

I highly recommend both.

edit: Oh, another recommendation for anyone who hasnt read it is Daniel Quinn's Ishmael. It had a very profound impact on me and my views of western civilization, ownership... its a very deep book and a very pleasant read. If youre still not sure, one of the two main characters is a talking gorilla who just happens to be wiser than any man Now who could pass that up?

 

[X26]

Finished:

Amazing book, and the amount of shit that hits the fan late in the book, damn.

I will be starting the 4th book soon, but while the first 3 have more than lived up to the hype I don't hear much concerning A Feast for Crows. Is it seen as the weakest in the series thus far or something?

 

[Future PhaZe]

Feast is the weakest. I could say a lot about why but you'll find out. It's not a bad book at all though...just feels weak after coming off of a masterpiece like Storm.

 

[bumbillbee]

Course literature, but really fun to read, I love this shit.

Hahaha, awesome. It's a great textbook, although I didn't get a chance to finish it. I love how he starts with spin, especially. I'm currently starting Ballentine's book, which I like because it has a lot of probability theory.

 

[Monroeski]

Love that collection. It lives up to it's name of "best of" with the exception of "At the Mountains of Madness" being missing.

It's a three book series; At the Mountains of Madness is in the third book.

Started reading this last night:

Would probably be more entertaining (not that it isn't already) if I had read the unaltered source material first.

Also making my way through Edgar Allen Poe: Complete Tales & Poems.

Actually, I've heard that he butchers the original story so much it's pretty much worse if you HAVE read it. I mean, of course it's going to be different what with the zombies and such, but apparently he pays no mind whatsoever to the character's original personalities or anything like that. One guy told me that if you changed the character's actual names you practically wouldn't even know what book it was a parody of, though I'm sure he exaggerated a little bit.

 

[Blackace]

I just finished this epic beast yesterday:

I read this a few months ago, and I really dug it. Don't think I want to read the follow up, I like it as it is.

 

[Alucard]

I have started up my own book review blog. The idea is that I am trying to read forty backlogged books in 365 days, which amounts to about one book every nine days. I will not be purchasing any books for pleasure reading until I finish these forty.

http://backlogbooksblog.blogspot.com/

 

[Mike Works]

just finished reading this, it's about a young girl living in a strict christian family trying to come to terms with her lesbianism, pretty interesting narrative style

 

[Salazar]

just finished reading this, it's about a young girl living in a strict christian family trying to come to terms with her lesbianism, pretty interesting narrative style

I just can't get past the fact that Winterson is such a bitch.

 

[pelicansurf]

berserk.

 

[MilesWebber]

Just Finished:

Started reading

 

[bengraven]

Just Finished:

This is the only Chuck P book I never finished. I've read every other one, including his non-fiction work and I'm a member of The Cult, I just accidently flipped it open to the ending and ruined a major plot twist.

Since twists are such a huge part of Palahniuk's books, I never picked it up.

 

[HiroProtagonist]

EDIT : I may post in the fantasy topic, but i've read GRR Martin, Cook, Goodkind, Robin Hobb, Raymond E Feist... (loved the bolded) all good fantasy books translated in french. Now i'm starting to read fantasy in english, cannot wait for months the translations that may not come. So I started this serie. What else do you think I may like ?

The Fionavar Tapestry by Guy Gavriel Kay is very good, as is Tigana. They are all translated into French, and even sport better cover art than their English counterparts.

Well, Martin and Erikson are the two best fantasy epics going, IMHO. I tried Goodkin but hated every page. Old Feist was decent.

Anyway, try the Shadowlands series by Tad Williams.

Does Tad Williams do fantasy better than he does science fiction? I picked up all of the Otherland books (stupid, stupid, stupid!) and was utterly disappointed. It just felt like he was trying too hard. I spent more time imagining him composing his sentences than I did focusing on the story.

 

[MilesWebber]

This is the only Chuck P book I never finished. I've read every other one, including his non-fiction work and I'm a member of The Cult, I just accidently flipped it open to the ending and ruined a major plot twist.

Since twists are such a huge part of Palahniuk's books, I never picked it up.

The ending kind of pissed me off. Overall it's a book about people wo want attention and will do anything to get it.

 

[Tim the Wiz]

This, and loving it so far.

Well, you're in for a treat. The next few installments, Deadhouse Gates and Memories of Ice in particular, are the best in the series.

EDIT : I may post in the fantasy topic, but i've read GRR Martin, Cook, Goodkind, Robin Hobb, Raymond E Feist... (loved the bolded) all good fantasy books translated in french. Now i'm starting to read fantasy in english, cannot wait for months the translations that may not come. So I started this serie. What else do you think I may like ?

Matthew Stover's prose is some of the best in the genre. Oh, and the Acts of Caine series entails an excellent plot as well.

Otherwise, try Lois McMaster Bujold (start: Curse of Chalion), Scott Lynch (start: Lies of Locke Lamora), Joe Abercrombie (start: The Blade Itself or Best Served Cold), Pat Rothfuss (start: The Name of the Wind), Greg Keyes (start: The Briar King), Jim Butcher (start: Storm Front or Furies of Calderon), China Mieville (start: Peridido Street Station) or Neil Gaiman (start: American Gods is as good any). I would call that a good starting point in the genre; however, there's tons more great fantasy out there, some of even better quality. (see: Gene Wolfe, Fritz Leiber, Roger Zelazny, Tim Powers, the recently-converted Richard K Morgan, etc.) In any case, you should look up the decently long recommendation thread for sci-fi/fantasy.

 

[way more]

Just Finished:

The ending kind of pissed me off. Overall it's a book about people wo want attention and will do anything to get it.

Completely true. It's the laziest and most offense way to portray a transgendered person. The idea that someone would switch genders because they were bored or wanted attention is stupid and idiotic. That was the problem I had with Hedwig and the Angry Itch.

People don't go trans gender because they are gay or want attention.

 

[E-phonk]

Just bought these 3, currently reading bad science.

 

[Salazar]

Marc Eliot 'Walt Disney: Hollywood's Dark Prince'.


Walt was an evil, stupid, sexist, racist motherfucker. Good book.

 

[jason10mm]

Does Tad Williams do fantasy better than he does science fiction? I picked up all of the Otherland books (stupid, stupid, stupid!) and was utterly disappointed. It just felt like he was trying too hard. I spent more time imagining him composing his sentences than I did focusing on the story.

Hard to say. The Shadowland series is a MUCH more traditional political fantasy style than his previous fantasy series (Memory, Sorrow, and Thorn, IIRC), more in line with Martin. I actually liked Otherland, but it did trend towards over-detail and meandering plotlines. Shadowlands is a bit more focused. I'm not a great evaluator of writing "style", so I can't say if Williams won't beat you about the head with this sentence structure, but it certainly wasn't glaringly convoluted or anything.

Anyway, like most of these "modern" political fantasy series, there is no concrete ending in sight, since thre usually isn't a "big bad" to fight. So hard to say how it will end, though it has all the trappings; a naive princess who must rule her kingdom, backwater soldier sworn to defend her, supernatural elements, opposing kingdoms, jealous uncle striving for the throne, etc.

Oh man, I hope I'm remembering the right series. I read so many of these type of books my memory for any one in particular is fuzzy

Can't go wrong with Erikson though. How the hell that guy keeps his stories straight when they are so epic and how he keeps his writing so fresh with that volume of output is just staggering. The guy must be a meth addict with an entire warehouse devoted to tracking storylines, looking like some enormous web I can only hope that he one days writes his version of the Silmarillion so his backstory will finally be laid out straight.

 

[Boozeroony]

This

 

[MidnightRider]

Just started reading this.

 

[wrowa]

Actually, I bought this book already back in June. I visited some bookstore and wanted to buy a book and after I haven't seen anything that really stroke me as interesting, I saw that Gun Seller is written by Hugh Laurie, the actor of House. So I bought it out of curiosity, even though it isn't really my genre.

Well, three months later I finally decided to give it a chance and I finished the book after three days. It's not the best book ever or something like that, but it's a funny, fast-paced novel that is fun to read. I really dig Laurie's style of writing. Good book.


Well, after finishing Gun Seller, I started reading Kafka on the Shore, my second book by Murakami.

Loved it. At the end it kinda seems like Murakami didn't really know what he was doing, so that many of the "riddles" (how he calls it) seem pointless. But still: I loved it. It could have been a bit shorter, though. On the last 100-50 pages Kafka's story started to slightly annoy me.


Although I kinda felt tired (for now) by Murakami I couldn't help but buy yet another book by him. And that was...

While Kafka is maybe some pages too long, After Dark is a bit on the short side. Actually, with its 201 pages it's a really quick read. I loved the style, I loved the characters and I wish I could've followed them for more than a single "night". Still, a great book.


I guess I'm officially addicted by Murakami now. Can't wait to read another book by him. I'm not yet sure which one I should pick next, though.

 

[Fireblend]

Currently reading:

Along with apparently half of Gaf.

Half of GAF-1; as I just finished it myself. Brilliant read, and seeing as I have never read anything by Gaiman before, might as well start adding to my collection. It dragged for too long at times, but nothing too annoying.

The stack right now:

Lolita --> House of Leaves --> Norwegian Wood

 

[Kunan]

Am on a Star Wars kick right now, just finished this:

It was alot better than Dark Lord: The Rise of Darth Vader and provides an excellent introduction to Thrawn.

Was thinking of getting into A Song of Fire and Ice, but would like to wait for more books as I go through them fast.

Just Finished:

Still haven't decided whether I liked that book too much.. Rant was better. This was pretty good though but strange.

 

[GhastlyGaseous]

Half of GAF-1; as I just finished it myself. Brilliant read, and seeing as I have never read anything by Gaiman before, might as well start adding to my collection. It dragged for too long at times, but nothing too annoying.

The stack right now:

Lolita --> House of Leaves --> Norwegian Wood

If your looking for more Gaiman, and don't mind short story collections, I definitely suggest Smoke and Mirrors, it's quintessential Gaiman writing in bit sized nougaty bits. Nothing not to like. I'd also recommend Robin Mckinnley's Sunshine if you're in to that writing style/genre.

 

[Fleet of Foot]

I just finished this epic beast yesterday:

The sequel is just about as good. I recommend it. I guess it's not really a sequel as much as a follow-up. Eleven hundred pages and it took me seven days.

Pillars of the Earth and World Without End are hard to describe. Both of them involve a character who wants to accomplish something that seems impossible. Instead of giving up, though, we get to read about every difficulty and setback they face. And there are a ton.

These books almost remind me of a bad RPG (which doesn't make them bad books). It's like, one character wants "this" and they're told they first have to do "that." It's just a series of "I want 'this'" and "Ok, but first you must do 'that', 'that', and 'that'" over and over again. I'm not describing it well.

 

[BorkBork]

Only two chapters in. Really really dense, really good so far.

 

[wrowa]

http://i106.photobucket.com/albums/m277/Spidey-ORLY/1-10.jpg[/mg]

Exceptional.[/QUOTE]

Yep, great book. The film adaption kinda sucks, though.

 

[Peronthious]

Started this the other day. It's...ok. As with the other books by Anderson and Herbert's son, they don't even come close to the original five, but it's fun to come back to the universe. The content, though, is questionable. Since getting really into the Dune novels I've read a bit of Vernor Vinge, and I like his take on the AI concept much more than Herbert's, so seeing what's going on in the Butlerian Jihad isn't a concept I'm totally in love with. Still, as a flashy sci-fi novel, it's not bad so far.

 

[Peronthious]

I swear that I will check this author out at some point. Is A Fire Upon the Deep the quintessential place to start?

Yes, immediately followed by A Deepness in the Sky.

 

[Burger]

Yes, immediately followed by A Deepness in the Sky.

Seconded.

I love Vernor Vinge, but I hated Rainbows End, totally didn't vibe with me. Also check out the Realtime books, loved em.

 

[My Name Is Luke]

About to start up The Stranger by Albert Camus, one of my classmates told me that this book is crazy depressing so I guess that's something to look forward to.

 

[captainbiotch]

 

[Salazar]

I read the Haney book a few months ago. It's good; I read the Marcinko book right afterwards, and Marcinko is such a dickhead but he produced a more interesting bit of work.

Really, though, you should get into Tobias Wolff's 'In Pharaoh's Army'. He's a proper writer, a wonderful human being.

I'm into
Frank Herbert's 'Dune': More exciting than I expected, especially with the dust storms around my house lending it atmosphere.
Anthony Grafton's 'The Footnote': This is a reread, but it is as good as I remember. Funny, deeply informed, forcefully curious history of scholarly practices, feuds, figures. Possibly my favourite historian.
John Carey's 'The Intellectuals and the Masses': Polemic against the class prejudices of the British literary élite. Does its damage largely by quotation, rather than by way of Carey's generalisations and syntheses. DH Lawrence was an absolute fucker of a man, and my loathing for Virginia Woolf has doubled and firmed.

 

[Skittleguy]

I found it!

"God Says No" by James Hannaham.

Gonna find this as soon as I finish "Snuff".

 

[Alucard]

Is it okay that I've read the first forty pages of Neuromancer and I barely understand what the heck is happening? I don't think I'm a moron when it comes to books, and I think I have read enough science fiction to get through difficult text, but this is like a whole new level of labyrinthine prose. I'm starting to think he just isn't that good of a writer in this book either...

"Raw edge of vomit in his throat."
"Her gray eyes blind with fear."

Really, William Gibson? Really? It's like he's striving incredibly hard for cool, but ends up sounding juvenile and gets a big ol' rolleyes from me most of the time. I know this book is beloved by many, and I am only forty pages in, but so far I just feel frustrated.

 

[Alucard]

About to start up The Stranger by Albert Camus, one of my classmates told me that this book is crazy depressing so I guess that's something to look forward to.

It's depressing in a post-modern sort of way...whatever that even means. I really enjoyed it.

 

[CajoleJuice]

Is it okay that I've read the first forty pages of Neuromancer and I barely understand what the heck is happening? I don't think I'm a moron when it comes to books, and I think I have read enough science fiction to get through difficult text, but this is like a whole new level of labyrinthine prose. I'm starting to think he just isn't that good of a writer in this book either...

"Raw edge of vomit in his throat."
"Her gray eyes blind with fear."

Really, William Gibson? Really? It's like he's striving incredibly hard for cool, but ends up sounding juvenile and gets a big ol' rolleyes from me most of the time. I know this book is beloved by many, and I am only forty pages in, but so far I just feel frustrated.

I know exactly how you feel. It makes progressively more sense as you go along, obviously, but I didn't find the book all that worthy of its massive praise. BUT, I should probably give it a second read before totally dismissing it.

 

[batbeg]

Madness of Angels - Kate Griffin

Finished this. In the end I really enjoyed it - her style is poetic and engaging but sometimes a little too mundane because of the length. I can't honestly say the story or characters were amazing or anything, but it was a good book when all is said and done. I decided to wiki the author and now feel like crying because how young and accomplished she already is, and how quickly she seems to write (she's 23, has something like 6 young adult novels, this one, and is working on her second adult novel fuuuck).

The Stars My Destination - Alfred Bester
Reading this next. Want something a little shorter.

 

[Gadfly]

Picked this up today after work, suppose I'll start reading this weekend when I have free time

I just finished reading this. I can't believe I wasted my time reading this crap.

Religion couldn't have found a better apologist . I should have known from the way he ended up his other book (Da Vinci code).

 

[Salazar]

About to start up The Stranger by Albert Camus, one of my classmates told me that this book is crazy depressing so I guess that's something to look forward to.

If you like it, or if you're keen for something in a similar vein but slightly more exciting and less philosophically oblique, try 'The Woman in the Dunes' by Kobo Abe.