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[Ceebs]

I finished this up last week while out of town for the holidays.

I think this may top Uprooted as fantasy book of the year. I would have never thought a fantasy book centered on a empire accountant and colonial economics to set off so many emotions. Then the ending...holy shit at the ending.

 

[O.DOGG]

Finished The Blade Itself, and I'm continuing with the First Law series, currently reading Before They Are Hanged.

 

[Maklershed]

Looking for a recommendation.

I want to read about all sorts of weird folklore. Occasionally I stumble on a Cracked article or something telling me about the people in Iceland having the concept of a Yuletide Cat that eats all the children that haven't received any new clothes for Christmas, and I find it super interesting.

I don't really care what form the book takes, whether it's just a dry list of weird concepts from around the world, or whether they have more background and analysis to them, as long as it tells me about more weird ideas like that.

I believe Curious Myths of the Middle Ages is what you're looking for. Lots of weird, fascinating topics in there of cultural myths and oddities - the wandering Jew, the dancing plague, etc.


Curious Myths of the Middle Ages: The Sangreal, Pope Joan, The Wandering Jew, and Others by Sabine Baring-Gould

 

[Cade]

Started this. It seems decent so far. I'm waiting for the 1st and then I'll read some big-ass stuff.

 

[Ventilaator]

If you can find a set of Man, Myth, and Magic, a 24 volume encyclopedia full of batshit crazy, buy it. It covers strange belief systems, well known magical figures, folklore, monsters, bleeding nuns, voodoo, etc. Like an old school encyclopedia, it's composed of short essays and photos. So many gruesome photos. I love my set, bought for $24 from a half-price books decades ago.

More generally, you're probably just looking for folklore books. There are a ton of them. My best recommendation as a folklore junkie, go to Barnes & Noble in person. It's post-christmas, and if you walk the cheap sale book section, I suspect you would find very inexpensive folklore collections, as they're a staple, since they're all in the public domain. A couple of bucks can get you two hundred pages of folklore stories from a particular country, usually.

Amazon also has some cheap folklore books available, including a bunch of free public domain stuff from a variety places. I just glanced and saw English, Norse, Navaho, and Irish folklore available for free. And that was in the first few pages.

And, if you're interested in Appalachian folklore turned into some lovely stories, you can read Manly Wade Wellman's John stories for free, here: http://www.library.beau.org/lib/ebooks/baen/03/John the Balladeer/index.htm

Just getting a random collection was what I was going to do, I was just checking here if anyone had specific recommendations. That Man, Myth and Magic collection seems like the most beautiful things I've ever seen, but somewhat impossible to find with a sane pricetag. Will check out John the Balladeer. Thanks.

I believe Curious Myths of the Middle Ages is what you're looking for. Lots of weird, fascinating topics in there of cultural myths and oddities - the wandering Jew, the dancing plague, etc.

Curious Myths of the Middle Ages: The Sangreal, Pope Joan, The Wandering Jew, and Others by Sabine Baring-Gould

Some of the Goodreads reviews make it sound that this is strangely written, but I'll check it out. Thanks.

 

[m3k]

Smileys people - John le carre

Good spy novel so far!

 

[Ratrat]

Cochrane by David Cordingly.
Pretty interesting if you like Master and Commander.

 

[Nymerio]

I finished this up last week while out of town for the holidays.

I think this may top Uprooted as fantasy book of the year. I would have never thought a fantasy book centered on a empire accountant and colonial economics to set off so many emotions. Then the ending...holy shit at the ending.

Oh wow, I loved Uprooted as well and this was already on my to-read list. Guess I'll make this the first book I'll read in 2016.

 

[ngower]

Maybe y'all can help me out here. I was recommended a sci-fi/post-apocalyptic book a while back in a book store. It was part of a series, I believe, and I think the first part was largely self-published. I know the cover was VERY red/orange/yellow. Maybe came out in the past few years?

Does this ring a bell?

 

[whatevermort]

Maybe y'all can help me out here. I was recommended a sci-fi/post-apocalyptic book a while back in a book store. It was part of a series, I believe, and I think the first part was largely self-published. I know the cover was VERY red/orange/yellow. Maybe came out in the past few years?

Does this ring a bell?

That would almost definitely be Wool.

 

[Kawl_USC]

Wool by Hugh Howey?

 

[ngower]

That would almost definitely be Wool.

YES! Good lord, this was such a pain in the ass to find. Thank you so much!

 

[Atraveller]

I finished this up last week while out of town for the holidays.

I think this may top Uprooted as fantasy book of the year. I would have never thought a fantasy book centered on a empire accountant and colonial economics to set off so many emotions. Then the ending...holy shit at the ending.

Such high praise! I'd definitely add it to my list.

 

[Quote]

I finished this up last week while out of town for the holidays.

I think this may top Uprooted as fantasy book of the year. I would have never thought a fantasy book centered on a empire accountant and colonial economics to set off so many emotions. Then the ending...holy shit at the ending.

How hard of a read is this if you're not political or accountant savvy?

 

[Meteorain]

Finished up this month with:

City of Stairs seemed promising initially, and whilst the setting was interesting, the Gods were a let down.

Emperor's Blades was a great start but book 2 (Providence of Fire) is where things really got interesting. Looking forward to book 3.

Traitor's Blade was a nice surprise. An interesting re-imagining of the 3 Musketeers, but what I loved the most was the fight Choreography.

Ending the year/starting the new one with an easy read in:

 

[You Know Nothing]

I finished this up last week while out of town for the holidays.

I think this may top Uprooted as fantasy book of the year. I would have never thought a fantasy book centered on a empire accountant and colonial economics to set off so many emotions. Then the ending...holy shit at the ending.

The whole book was very well done. But the ending was on another level. Just such a wave of disbelief and awe.

Spoiler

But I will not be bound as you are. I will walk among your council and you will tremble at what you have unleashed.

Spoiler

Good-bye, she thinks. Good-bye, kuye lam. I will write your name in the ruin of them. I will paint you across history in the color of their blood.

So good.

How hard of a read is this if you're not political or accountant savvy?

Very easy to grasp. I have no accounting experience and I barely understand basic economics, but I had no trouble understanding anything. The book almost doubles as a primer.

 

[kswiston]

So the Serpent of Venice started out well, but I thought that it wore out its welcome well before it came to a close. I gave it a 3/5 on Goodreads. The setting and use of Shakespearian characters was interesting, but the same gags were reused way too many times.

 

[Verdre]

I've been re-reading Island in the Sea of Time and Against the Tide of Years, the first two books in a trilogy by SM Stirling. Alternate history in which an event sends ~1996 Nantucket back in time 3000 years or so.

Haven't read them in quite a few years now, but I used to love them. Still enjoy them, which I can't say for recent Stirling books, but I see their flaws a whole lot better these days. Characters aren't terribly deep on the whole, he info dumps far too often, and Stirling really makes battle a tedious affair, which is a pain as it starts taking up the vast majority of the story as the series moves along.

 

[Ceebs]

The whole book was very well done. But the ending was on another level. Just such a wave of disbelief and awe.

I think my jaw was on the floor for the entire last chapter or so. I can't stop thinking about it.

 

[Number45]

<< there should be a special place in hell for monthly threads that don't link the new one when it's created >>

 

[Jag]

<< there should be a special place in hell for monthly threads that don't link the new one when it's created >>

What Are You Reading - January 2016

http://www.neogaf.com/forum/showthread.php?t=1164621

 

[Mumei]

How hard of a read is this if you're not political or accountant savvy?

As You Know Nothing said, not hard at all.