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[GDJustin]

The january thread lasted literally the entire month, which is unusual. People staying in and reading more to escape the weather and their dreadful lives? Maybe! Anyway, we're well into February now, so it's new thread time.

Blew through this very quickly on a couple of plane rides this weekend. My opinion of it has been lowered somewhat by so much of the original Freakonomics research becoming increasingly suspect. Plus, several chapters of this book seem to have a pretty transparent agenda (putting sulphur in the atmosphere would produce acid rain, and they never once mention this in the global warming chapter).

Still, the these guys are at their best with their crazy stories and offhand statistics, and SuperF is jammed full of them. The story of the researchers introducing money into a society of monkeys is priceless.

All in all, it feels a little bit like these guys blew their load with the first book, and this is the "B Team" book as a result. It's still very entertaining and will give readers tons of "did you know" factoids. I liked it.

Just starting this - just about ~20 pages into it. I picked it up with an Xmas gift card because

A) GAF had suggested it and

B) The cover quote is probably the most perfect book blurb I've ever read: "A Steampunk-zombie-airship adventure of rollicking pace and sweeping proportions, full of wonderfully gnarly details. This book is made of irresistable." I mean... how can you say no to that? So far the opening three chapters have been so-so, but clearly I'm going to give it a real chance.

 

[Santiako]

Ehm, dude:

It has the exact same title.

 

[GDJustin]

I blame the lack of search.

 

[Socreges]

What are you reading? (February 2010)

I'm reading What are you reading? (February 2010) by FnordChan. GDJustin's What are you reading? (February 2010) strikes me as blatant plagiarism in comparison.

Rule of thumb: if we are several hours into a new month, just assume that someone has already made the thread. I get the impression that on the last day of every month people begin to get pretty itchy fingers.

 

[Sword Familiar]

I'm reading the text I'm writing, and when you're reading this I probably won't be reading anything.

 

[OutlawSamurai]

Men's Fitness and Maxim when I'm on the crapper

 

[crowphoenix]

Finished up Monster by A. Lee Martinez while I was on my trip. It was a fun read and easy read. However, the book did have a lot of problems.

The biggest problem the book had was in explaining the world to the reader. The book, in a lot of ways, takes part in a Harry Potter-esque world. The difference is that in this world the human mind is hardwired to not see magic. And while this makes for an interesting plot, I feel that it was bungled a bit in how the information was doled out.

Basically, the plot follows two characters Monster and Judy. Monster can see and preform magic. Judy can't. This creates a good dynamic and sets up some fun scenes between.

However, we learn about magic as Judy (who is often not present to ask questions) while actually following Monster's life, which leads to several scenes early on where the reader has no idea what's happening or why.

I'd also place the confusion on the fact that the story is very dialogue heavy. So much so that I barely remember what the characters look like. And then there's the occasional scene that just seems to happen at random.

Still, it's a fun and quirky read if you're sitting in an airport for hours.

 

[SixStringPsycho]

great read btw. Loving it so far

 

[LastActionHero]

Sarah Palin's "Going Rogue" (yeah, it's a guilty pleasure that I keep to myself-none of my friends even know I have the book).

 

[faridmon]

i love the book, but its really hard to understand to someone English is not his first language. I keep rereading the 3 first chapter to get hold on what happened.

why is the professor naked at the beginning of the 3rd chapter?