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Maklershed · Dec 1, 2015

Maklershed · Dec 1, 2015

Please make sure to stop by the GAF's Favorite Books Read in 2015 thread and add your vote!

Currently reading Ancient Shores

Ancient Shores by Jack McDevitt

NandyRewman · Dec 1, 2015

'Howl, Kaddish, and Other Poems' by Allen Ginsberg. Only just started this. Enjoyed Howl, but feel I need to go through it a couple of times until it really clicks - I'm not much of a poetry fan.

'The Punic Wars' by Nigel Bagnall. Excellent history, probably some of the best I've read on the subject. Can perhaps become a little bogged down in the minutiae of military strategy, but I don't mind that.

RepairmanJack · Dec 1, 2015

The Hero of Ages by Brandon Sanderson

Through the first part and so far I'm really loving it. I'm really liking the different point of views so far added, especially since they were probably the part of the universe I was most interested in seeing more of after Well of Ascension.

Zakalwe · Dec 1, 2015

On Writing by Stephen King
N-W by Zadie Smith
Seibo There Below by László Krasznahorkai

I've been meaning to read OW for a while now. I write myself as a hobby, and I've always been curious to try to take it further. I like King's way of showing rather than telling (so far at least, only a few dozen pages in), and he has a way of making the mundane (recounting childhood with a sense of wonder and hint of the extraordinary) seem interesting that's a testament to the quality of his writing.

Zadie Smith's writing is full of energy. Reading her makes me want to pick up a pen and just experiment with stream of concious ideas, bend and break rules, let my imagination run. I'm not heavily invested in the caheacters so far, and the story itself isn't grabbing me, but her style is something special.

STB I've only read a few pages of, and I'm finding it difficult to adjust to LK'a style l. He uses full stops sparingly, instead using commas to create huge flowing sentences. It feels a little tiring, but I know that's my laziness more than anything. I've glanced through the book and read pages here and there and I can tell when I get my head around it I'm going to find something good here.

thomaser · Dec 1, 2015

The Glass Bead Game by Hermann Hesse. It has a very slow-going introduction, where many readers supposedly give up, but I got through that last night. Starting on the main story today.

Number45 · Dec 1, 2015

Decided to re-read:

Before moving back on to new stuff.

kswiston · Dec 1, 2015

I am about 1/3 of the way through the Sixth Extinction:

:

It's a book looking at the current human caused extinction event (as well as extinction in general). It's a popular science book, but is very well written (and interesting) from what I have read before. If you like books like Bill Bryson's A Short History of Nearly Everything, you will probably like this book as well. The style is similar in that scientific facts are interlaced with science history and interesting biographical blurbs.

Nymerio · Dec 1, 2015

Starting Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell tonight:

Ashes · Dec 1, 2015

A book every two days you say? Oh... okay.

HORRORSHØW · Dec 1, 2015

just reading through a couple of lovecraft's stories online: shadows over innsmouth and the call of the cthulhu.

AzerPhire · Dec 1, 2015

Just started the latest Tom Clancy (Mark Greaney) novel Commander in Chief. I can never resist the Jack Ryan books no matter how predictable they get. About 25% done so far and it is pretty standard fare so far.

Number45 · Dec 1, 2015

Ashes said:
A book every two days you say? Oh... okay.

I set myself a target of 50 for the year, I don't know what I was thinking - particularly as I've read some massive books. I think 30 next year is a sensible target!

Selner · Dec 1, 2015

After the last thread, and the Expanse tv show thread, I have started listening to Leviathan Wakes on Audible.

A couple hours in so far and I'm liking it

.

MattyG · Dec 1, 2015

Currently reading

I know a lot of people found the writing style to be problematic, but I'm loving it. The characters are really fun, and it's building up the post-ROTJ universe pretty well.

I'm also working my way through The Complete Fiction of H.P. Lovecraft. Reading Call of Cthulhu right now.

Dedication Through Light · Dec 1, 2015

Reading Plutocracy in America: How Increasing Inequality Destroys The Middle Class and Exploits The Poor

I just want to know who are these 15000 families making more than $23.5 mln a yr.

100pgs in.

Verdre · Dec 2, 2015

Reading Naomi Novik's latest book in the Temeraire series - Blood of Tyrants

She's chosen an angle in this book that results in utter tediousness when it's focused on, so what should be another fun Temeraire book is fun - except when it touches the awful new plot point.

LProtag · Dec 2, 2015

Going through it pretty quickly. I started The Name of the Wind about a week or so ago.

Nuke Soda · Dec 2, 2015

About 215 pages into Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. This book is very technical in its descriptions, to the point where my imagination doesn't even know what to imagine, but that is okay because the book is so good. I like the characters a lot. I have an idea of where this book is going since I read the description, but I have no idea how it will get there or how it will end. By the way don't read the jacket of the book if you want to avoid distant spoilers. All you need to know is that the moon gets destroyed and people are launched into space when it becomes apparent that the Earth will become unlivable.

fakefaker · Dec 2, 2015

Enjoying Empire Ascendant by Kameron Hurley.

fakefaker · Dec 2, 2015

Oh and here's a link to a cover gallery for fantasy, sci-fi and horror books for December if anyone wants it.

Mumei · Dec 2, 2015

Number45 said:
Finished Animal Farm, rated it three stars, read the appendices and immediately wanted to up the rating to four stars. Does anyone else find that reading additional material about the book can alter your perception of the book itself? It happened when I first read The Gunslinger - I enjoyed it without really getting into it, but when I read the introduction (which I'd skipped because I didn't want any spoilers) and read about how the characters of that series have been in his mind basically since he started writing it encouraged me to read it again and got me involved in how those books connect with some of his others.

Definitely. My enjoyment of Pale Fire was enormously enhanced by reading Boyd's book afterwards.

Debating whether to start The Count of Monte Cristo or The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch next. I suspect one is significantly shorter than the other.

THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO

do it

nailbombxx · Dec 2, 2015

I read so many damn short stories that I feel like I never "finish" a book.

Anywho, I'm continuing my reading of classic weird fiction and horror stories.

Firstly I've went back and read a couple of Lovecraft's stories that I have not read. The first two being The Doom that Came to Sarnath and The Nameless City, both are very much inspired by the mythic prose stylings of Lord Dunsany but still feature Lovecraft's interest in ancient beings from the cosmos. Next was The Whisperer in Darkness, another tale in which country folk in the hills of New England stumble upon alien dwellers hidden in the wilderness. The atmosphere in this one was fantastic, and at times very unsettling.

Then I read Algernon Blackwood's The Willows, a monumental tour de force of cosmic horror. Two adventurers go canoeing down the great Danube river across Europe, and soon find themself in a godforsaken marshland, among storm and flooding. There is something strange about the great masses of willow bushes that populate the flooded marshland, and our protagonist can't help but feel that there is something evil about the place. A classic tale of nature's indomitable power over man as well as malicious forces outside of the visible world. Extremely evocative and well written, I dare say that I've enjoyed this story more than most of Lovecraft's stuff.

And so I came to read a couple of Arthur Machen, an author with much similarity to Blackwood. I have read his most famous story, The Great God Pan. Fantastic, a great combination of pagan themes, science fiction and cosmic horror. I very much loved the usage of the god Pan as a symbol for cosmic evil, this story has many brilliant concepts. As good as it was, the pacing was really weakened by too many anecdotes of people simply driven to death by madness and fear by being around a particular femme fatale. A bit stretched out, I'm afraid.

Lastly, I read Machen's other masterpiece The White People. Never had I read such a piece of fiction so incredibly effective at suggesting strange and horrific things, being far more effective than outright telling about them. The story is told through the diary of a young girl who tells of her experiences of a world of mystic secrets revealed to her by her nurse, her adventures out into the countryside and her strange discoveries. At times the story feels a bit like a strange fairy tale, but steeped in folklore and suggestions of witchcraft. Perhaps the incredibly mystifying atmosphere should be credited to the innocent viewpoint of a young teenager through which the story is told, where the weird seems all the more cryptic and frightening. One of the best stories that I've read in a long time.

Cfh123 · Dec 2, 2015

I read my first Daphne DuMaurier novel, Jamaica Inn. Good story and great atmosphere. I'll be reading some more of hers.

Atraveller · Dec 2, 2015

The Girl on the Train won Goodreads' 2015 best thriller, huh, I honestly thought it was bad.

You Know Nothing · Dec 2, 2015

I'm mad A Little Life didn't win for best fiction book.

But I mean this won for best debut Goodreads author. The description alone is derivative dystopian YA enough for me to never bother.

CharminUltra · Dec 2, 2015

Crime and Punishment.

It's taking its sweet time, and I already love it for it. I find the narrative hypnotic.

HORRORSHØW · Dec 2, 2015

nailbombxx said:
I'm continuing my reading of classic weird fiction and horror stories.

these all sound fantastic from your descriptions.

i'm going to put them on my list.

Necrovex · Dec 2, 2015

You Know Nothing said:
I'm mad A Little Life didn't win for best fiction book.

But I mean this won for best debut Goodreads author. The description alone is derivative dystopian YA enough for me to never bother.

When I saw Go Set A Watchman won best fiction, I discover I can never trust those awards again.

ridley182 said:
Crime and Punishment.

It's taking its sweet time, and I already love it for it. I find the narrative hypnotic.

Crime and Punishment is high on my to-read list. Friends constantly hype it up. I may change the focus of my book club to read this at the new year.

Anyway, I am going to finish The Brief History of Seven Killings today, and start on The Alchemist. It's my Personal Destiny to read this novel for my book club.

linkboy · Dec 2, 2015

Anthony Bourdain's

Cade · Dec 2, 2015

I can't stop piling more and more books on. Help. I just started the second Jack Reacher novel. The Stress of Her Regard is starting to drag in spots.

Hey does anyone know if I can read Slade House before The Bone Clocks? Thanks.

Clydefrog · Dec 2, 2015

So hyped to read this. It came in last night.

Taruranto · Dec 2, 2015

Finished reading Curtain: Poirot's Last Case.

Well that was certainly different from Christie usual stuff.

Returning to Styles Court is very nostalgic, especially because The Mysterious Affair at Styles was actually the very first AC novel I read! While Hasting describes how things changed around there you really get a good sense on how much time has passed.

I think the novel pretty much highlight the love/hate relationship she had with Poirot, while his send-off is well thought, he dies as a murder and without his beloved mustaches (!!!).

It's always a pleasure to see Hasting (even though Poirot is kind of a dick to him in one occasion), too bad there was no trace of Ariadne Oliver, I wonder what happened to her?

Number45 said:
Debating whether to start The Count of Monte Cristo or The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch next. I suspect one is significantly shorter than the other.

The Count of Monte Cristo is the best book ever written, so there is that.

toweringinferno · Dec 2, 2015

fakefaker said:
Enjoying Empire Ascendant by Kameron Hurley.

Enjoyed the first one when i read it last year. You just reminded me i need to pick this up.

Protome · Dec 2, 2015

Still working my way through Smoke Gets In Your Eyes.

Almost finished with it. It's alright but not really gripping me. Some interesting insights about the whole industry around disposing of the dead and some good dark humour but overall the anecdotes are just a bit dull. Her youtube series is much better.

I'm not sure what I'm going to read next. My girlfriend and I have been talking about starting a little book club-ish podcast with the two of us at the end of this year/start of next so probably whatever we pick for that.

Joyful · Dec 2, 2015

I started reading The Shadow of the Torturer
weird but its gotten pretty good now

Number45 · Dec 2, 2015

Mumei said:
THE COUNT OF MONTE CRISTO

do it

Taruranto said:
The Count of Monte Cristo is the best book ever written, so there is that.

I actually started reading Frankenstein, but I'll get on The Count of Monte Cristo after that.

99hertz · Dec 2, 2015

This month I'm reading The Exploding Detective by John Swartzelder. I started reading The Martian by Andy Weir the last week of November but I still haven't finished. I'm still reading How to Design Programs Second Edition, I'm on the first chapter lol. I also started reading Tom Riddle and Conflicts of Interest. I'm halfway through A Guide to the Good Life: The Ancient Art of Stoic Joy by William V. Irvine but it's kind of boring because I already had read half of it a long time ago.

TTG · Dec 2, 2015

Necrovex said:
Crime and Punishment is high on my to-read list. Friends constantly hype it up. I may change the focus of my book club to read this at the new year.

Alright, this is gonna sound a little weird, but let's see if those of you that have read it can see it in this light. Crime and Punishment is the greatest coming of age novel ever written. When I think about growing up emotionally, this book covers some really important ground. It's very specific thematically in that take a school of thought and tear it apart Dostoevsky way, so it's no comprehensive deal, but that's alright.

I was just looking at the wiki article(it's been a decade since I read the book), this is nice:

Frank notes that "the moral-psychological traits of his character incorporate this antinomy between instinctive kindness, sympathy, and pity on the one hand and, on the other, a proud and idealistic egoism that has become perverted into a contemptuous disdain for the submissive herd"

I take it Frank is Joseph Frank whose biography of Dostoevsky I've been aware of since DFW's review. To me, this is what a lot of Crime and Punishment comes down to, empathy versus ego and that's classic growing up stuff.

Also, the ending sucks.

LordAmused · Dec 2, 2015

It's Pynchon december for me! Last year, I read Gravity's rainbow in december. It was one of the strangest ride I've ever had...

Now this year, we are going for Against the Day. 95 pages in so far and it feels just like Pynchon: varied characters, dark intelligent humor, long descriptions and a tad bit of fantasy/magic. I'm loving it.

nailbombxx · Dec 2, 2015

Grimløck;187523415 said:
these all sound fantastic from your descriptions.

i'm going to put them on my list.

I would highly recommend them. Wonderful stuff. Anyone who is into horror should be reading Blackwood and Machen as well as Lovecraft. If you are unfamiliar with Lovecraft's work too, you may want to start with the short story The Colour Out of Space.

HarryHengst · Dec 2, 2015

Reading the Malazan books is ruining fantasy for me.

Cyrus_Saren · Dec 2, 2015

I'm still going through The World of Ice and Fire. Ever since moving, I just haven't had much of a drive to read. I'm hoping that'll change when I move to a more permanent residence.

Ikuu · Dec 2, 2015

Just started it last night.

Mr. Sam · Dec 2, 2015

LordAmused said:
It's Pynchon december for me! Last year, I read Gravity's rainbow in december. It was one of the strangest ride I've ever had...

That's been on my Kindle for a long time. I did dip into it but found myself scared back into more accessible fiction. This from someone who read, and enjoyed, Infinite Jest.

Number45 · Dec 2, 2015

HarryHengst said:
Reading the Malazan books is ruining fantasy for me.

In what way? I've read the first of the series on recommendation from a friend but I never felt the inclination to read any others, although I think at the time I was a little burnt out on series of huge books.

Nymerio · Dec 2, 2015

Ikuu said:
Just started it last night.

So good.

ShaneB · Dec 2, 2015

Still making my way through Ghost Boy. Loving it, bought a copy for my Dad for Christmas among a few others.

“You’re safe,” he kept telling me.
But I felt terrified as the sea closed around my feet and legs. I was sure I was going to be swept away, and I’d have no choice but to go. Suddenly I felt Dad lean closer to me.
“Do you really think that I would let you go?” he shouted above the sound of the waves. “Do you think that after all these years, I would let something happen to you now?
“I’m here, Martin. I’ve got you. I won’t let anything happen. There’s no need to be scared.”
And it was only in that moment, as I felt my father’s arms holding me upright and his strength keeping me steady, that I knew his love was strong enough to protect me from an ocean.

:*(

HarryHengst · Dec 2, 2015

Number45 said:
In what way? I've read the first of the series on recommendation from a friend but I never felt the inclination to read any others, although I think at the time I was a little burnt out on series of huge books.

Everything else is so much worse compared to it. Or it wont be finished, like ASOIAF. :lol What i especially like is that Erikson doesnt consider the reader an idiot, but just drops you into his world and expects you to figure it out. Which makes the first book a bit hard to start, but on a reread its amazing how everything fits together.

The first book is also the worst in the series, written at least ten years before the other books. I still really liked it though.

Lucumo · Dec 2, 2015

Just finished:

Meh, I'm actually disappointed. The world didn't feel consistent, neither did the characters which is one reason why I didn't like even one of them.

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