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[GenericBadGuy]

I'm a fan of Butcher's Dresden Files, but haven't read any of his other series. My worry was that while I like the Dresden Files, it skirts a fine line between smart and fun trope-y and cringey trope-y and I wasn't sure how things would pan out in another series. ESPECIALLY something that is describing itself as steampunk and seemingly jumping on a bandwagon. And one of the main characters is called Grimm? Really?

But my worries were unfounded, because I like the book a good deal. It's got me to laugh out loud a few times and I think it has a good pace. I don't really understand calling it steampunk despite the cover - airships and goggles seems to be the extent of what is in this that gets called "steampunk" elsewhere. From where I am in the book I'd say there's more magic than anything else.

I'm a fan of settings that seem to parralel RPGs, and his new setting has a good amount of interesting history, races, "classes", and characters. So if you like that you'll like this. I recommend it.

 

[phyrlord]

One hell of a ride so far.

 

[MrOogieBoogie]

Decided to read Guy Gavriel Kay's The Lions of Al-Rassan.

Still early on but enjoying it. I like the quick pace, but holy cow does the author enjoy using commas everywhere.

 

[Erico]

Finished Aurora by Kim Stanley Robinson
Overall, I enjoyed the book and its uncommonly pessimistic view on futurology and space colonization.

But man, the last section nearly ruins everything, devolving into a preachy, tedious mess, transferring full narrative perspective to the book's worst character. Freya is an uncompelling, vapid shell of a character, and the unearned importance the plot repeatedly places upon her is nonsensical.

Robinson's Mars Trilogy has been on my to-read list for a while now, but Aurora has somewhat turned me off that investment.

 

[woodland]

Just finished Goldenhand by Garth Nix and the new Magnus Chase. It feels goofy talking to my friends about it cause I'm 23, but considering Percy Jackson came out when I was in HS and was amazing, the new Magnus Chase ending

Spoiler

where they're going to introduce him to Percy

was amazing.

Also, Goldenhand was fantastic - it's probably gonna be one of my top books this year. The Old Kingdom world is one of my favorite and the magic system is so cool. It's such a shame he writes slowly, as Nix could explore so much more in this world and he probably won't go back to Lirael or Sabriel after this

 

[kswiston]

I finished Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb today. People get mad at GRRM for dumping on their favourites, but Hobb makes him look like an amateur...

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Just finished Goldenhand by Garth Nix and the new Magnus Chase. It feels goofy talking to my friends about it cause I'm 23, but considering Percy Jackson came out when I was in HS and was amazing, the new Magnus Chase ending

Spoiler

where they're going to introduce him to Percy

was amazing.

Also, Goldenhand was fantastic - it's probably gonna be one of my top books this year. The Old Kingdom world is one of my favorite and the magic system is so cool. It's such a shame he writes slowly, as Nix could explore so much more in this world and he probably won't go back to Lirael or Sabriel after this

I loved the original trilogy from Nix, but I'd heard book 4 was a bit of a step down. However, seeing Goldenhand out I put both 4 and 5 back on my wish list.

 

[dakini]

Currently listening to Resurrection by Leo Tolstoy on audiobook and WOW this is just as great as War & Peace and Anna Karenina.

 

[Killua]

I'm currently listening to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone (Jim Dale) and World War Z (Complete Edition)

I'm really loving both so far.

I've never been able to have a good enough attention span to sit down and read very many books, but Audible has been a great help in letting me experience a lot of books while driving, cooking, cleaning, mowing lawns, etc.

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

World War Z is great. Shame the movie had nothing in common with it.

 

[Mumei]

I finished Royal Assassin by Robin Hobb today. People get mad at GRRM for dumping on their favourites, but Hobb makes him look like an amateur...

Embrace the emotionally abusive relationship.

I was looking through the Farseer books earlier today, and it's actually really striking how many elements are foreshadowed. I think I'll follow mu cephei's lead and reread the series before the next book comes out in May (ughhhh).

 

[arglebargle]

about 50 pages into this:

havent made up my mind yet. i like the insights into how rabbit is feeling and so on, but im not convinced there are any good guys in the book.

 

[TheXbox]

3/4 through The Book of the New Sun. One of the best science fiction novels I've read in years, and I think it's a shame that they sell it as two separate books on Amazon (Shadow and Claw + Sword and Citadel). It's like taking Dune and selling it as two products split at the halfway point between Part 1 and Part 2. This is one damn book. It should not cost $20.

 

[Atraveller]

Reading The Man in the High Castle now.

 

[BumRush]

About a quarter of the way through Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution by Neil deGrasse Tyson and it's phenomenal. As a kid I brushed off sciences as a means to graduate and get a job but in my adult life I've found myself incredibly interested.

 

[Cerity]

Finished this. Not sure if I sure if I liked the overall tone of the novel, a bit too dark comedically. It explores the mentality of that 'little girl covered in blood by the swings' image a bit too much.

Also finished up The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk, I have to say the only drawback for me is the obviously spotty translation at parts.

Moving onto No One Writes Back by Jang Eun-Jin now.

 

[DemWalls]

I've just started Joe Abercrombie's The Blade Itself. I've heard mixed things on him as an author, but its pretty good so far.

Well, of course there are dissenting opinions, but I think he's generally considered pretty good (and I agree).

 

[sasliquid]

Finished Iain M Banks' Look to Windward

Just starting the fifth Wheel of Time book, The Fires of Heaven. Does Matt ever stop being annoying?

 

[Harkon-Blood_Lord]

I'm reading NeoGaf, the most interesting book.

 

[kswiston]

I started The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho today. It's a short book so I will probably finish tomorrow. It's interesting so far.

About a quarter of the way through Origins: Fourteen Billion Years of Cosmic Evolution by Neil deGrasse Tyson and it's phenomenal. As a kid I brushed off sciences as a means to graduate and get a job but in my adult life I've found myself incredibly interested.

You should read A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson if you haven't done so already.

 

[Sean C]

The Three-Body Problem is a tremendously imaginative work of science fiction, one that recalls the classic work of Jules Verne in its attention to detail (as far as I can discern, anyway; it's possible that someone with more background in theoretical physics would say this is all gobbledygook, but it feels real). Worldbuilding is seldom this convincing. Keeping it from obtaining the highest possible grade is that, while Liu clearly has enormous knowledge of physics and the imagination to turn this into a very intricate storyline, as a writer his characters generally feel fairly rote. They serve their purpose well enough, but I wouldn't call any of them truly memorable. Dialogue, at times, is also very artificial. What will stick in the reader's memory is the set-pieces, and the scope of Liu's imagination.

Camilo José Cela's 1942 novel The Family of Pascual Duarte has often been called a Spanish-language counterpart to The Outsider, the novel by fellow future Nobel Laureate Albert Camus published the same year, in its existentialist depiction of a life that is nasty, brutish and (comparatively) short. This would surely have been quite a shock to most readers' systems on its release, with its unsentimental and gloomy depiction of its protagonist's life and the frequent bursts of violent behaviour either by him or directed at him (the first chapter concludes with

Spoiler

him, somewhat on the spur of the moment, killing his dog

). Cela manages some interesting turns of phrase here, but once its transgressive elements become rather familiar, it's not got all that much to offer beyond surface charms -- other than, perhaps, a reminder of how grim peasant life could be even in the late 19th century. There are some interesting structural decisions, from its semi-intricate framing device to the conceit of opening with

Spoiler

Duarte awaiting execution for murder, but for a crime that the main narrative never details (its focus is elsewhere)

.

And that's Nobel Laureate #72 for me. 40 (soon to be 41) to go!

 

[Mumei]

Also finished up The Man Who Spoke Snakish by Andrus Kivirähk, I have to say the only drawback for me is the obviously spotty translation at parts.

Another fan! <3

 

[Rug Monkey]

Just starting the fifth Wheel of Time book, The Fires of Heaven. Does Matt ever stop being annoying?

Yes, IMO, Rand too, eventually, but Perrin just gets worse and worse. I wanted him to get killed from

Spoiler

book 3 until the end.

 

[JonnyKong]

I finished this today,

Overall I would give it 7/10.

It was an entertaining read, and I really like her writing style, I just felt like the story didn't hold any surprises or stand out moments, and the ending was a little predictable. There is one scene involving faeces which I'll never forget though.

Next up I'm reading that Gillian Anderson book, I think it's called A Vision of Fire?

 

[Golden_Pigeon]

Thanks to Mumei, i started reading a book i already had, but like many, hadn't yet started and it's very promising:



It's look to be an unique peek, for western audience, into Sunni Islam tradition, the "backbone of the sunni muslim world" as the author put it. The author is both a practicing muslim and an accomplished scholar both in the traditional muslim sense and the western modern sense. If you're interested to learn about the competing struggle for the legacy of islamic religious authority it's seems to be a great book. It's also a great look into the astonishing science of hadith, or narrations authentifications. As a student of islamic sciences, it's great and i feel that it's very accessible.

I also been delving a lot into this book, as a statistical source is pretty great and the introduction as a critics of both liberal and conservative perspective about the muslim world is very interesting, and the author don't try to shy away results that would be uncomfortable for liberal or conservative about the muslim world on issues like violence or the role of religion in politics:



And i also started again this great book from the argentinian Jorge Luis Borges, amazing shorts novels with high philosophical (and funny) elements:



Book of Sands in English.

 

[Mumei]

Yes, IMO, Rand too, eventually, but Perrin just gets worse and worse. I wanted him to get killed from

Spoiler

book 3 until the end.

Ugh. Fail

Spoiler

e

 

[Burger]

I have the Fifth Season waiting on my Kindle now! I don't know anything about it. What did you like about it?

Fascinating characters, story, world. Completely different from most fantasy. The author does something very clever that I've not experienced before. Anything more descriptive would spoil it.

 

[Woorloog]

Yes, IMO, Rand too, eventually, but Perrin just gets worse and worse. I wanted him to get killed from

Spoiler

book 3 until the end.

Perrin has some really awesome moments. Perhaps some of the very best in the series even.
I do kinda like Perrin as a character, patience and consideration being traits i value. But man, the events and people he's involved with... ugh.

EDIT Mat gets better at some point, and becomes really, really good, for most part.

 

[Sparse]

Finished Slaughterhouse 5. I can see why it's a classic.

I was planning to read Shock of the Fall next, but I'm missing physical books... so it'll be The Handmaid's Tale instead.

 

[elhav]

After reading a bit of 1984, I have to say I really like it. It feels well written, and I'm quite curious where the story will go.

There is a certain part at the beginning where

Spoiler

the people in the office are shouting B.B(Big brother) over and over, and it reminded me of my country's prime minister, Bibi Netanyahu. When I got to this part I was all "Shit. If Bibi grows a moustache, I'm out of this country. Preferably Australia or something like that."

 

[hugocésar]

I'm about halfway through The Face of Another by Kobo Abe. It's my second book by him and I'm still as transfixed and enamored by his writing and understanding of solitude and human physicality as ever.

 

[Funyarinpa]

Reading Battle Royale Slam Book (collection of essays about Battle Royale), and while I enjoy getting more context about BR (such as the importance of pro wrestling in post-WW2 Japan and how it led to a type of wrestling match being the novel's namesake) I feel that it's a bit of a rough text to understand and very little in the essays felt memorable.

About halfway, and A Game of Thrones is next!

 

[Hop]

Reading:

Listening:

I had literally just opened my Kindle like "what am I gonna read next?" when I got the email saying my hold on Redshirts went through. So, hey, decision made for me.

 

[Mumei]

Let's. And preferably with the people responsible — either directly or through indifference — for any of the abuse that goes on inside while it burns. At least I know I haven't lost my capacity to be shocked.

 

[Deleted member 125677]

Some interesting quotes from Kierkegaard's (Vigilius Haufniensis') On the Concept of Anxiety (1844)

In one of Grimm's Fairy Tales there is the story of a youth who went
out in search of adventures for the sake of learning what it is to fear
or be in dread. We will let that adventurer go his way without
troubling ourselves to learn whether in the course of it he encountered
the dreadful. On the other hand I would say that learning to know
dread is an adventure which every man has to affront if he would not
go to perdition either by not having known dread or by sinking under
it. He therefore who has learned rightly to be in dread has learned the
most important thing.

Note that for Kierkegaard "dread" is the possibility of freedom, and one of the determining conditions of the human mode of existence.

Sympathy one must have; but this sympathy is genuine only when one knows oneself deeply and knows that what has happened to one man may happen to all. Only thus can one be of
some utility to oneself and to others. The physician in an insane asylum
who is foolish enough to believe that he is wise for all eternity and that his
bit of reason is insured against all injury in life, is indeed in a certain sense
wiser than the crazy patients, but at the same time he is
more foolish, and he surely will not heal many.

A remarkably humanistic approach, again probably connected to Kierkegaard's refusal of any sort of difference in quality between man and mankind. The difference between men and between man and mankind is strictly quantitative for Kierkegaard, and one of the key elements in his explanation of "hereditary sin".

Like most philosophy from the first half of the 19th century, perhaps the biggest "weakness" (or the least original parts of his book) is the fundamental entrenchment within the Hegelian mode of thinking (thesis, antithesis, synthesis), and the need to define every concept under discussion by its opposition, and finding the redeeming concept to transcend said oppositions. It makes everything feel very schematic and essentiallistic (which is a totally anachronistic and unfair criticism of something written in 1844 but whatever). This is, as you can imagine, particularly aggravating whenever Kierkegaard writes about gender differences.

Nevertheless, reading Kierkegaard is always an interesting experience. Highly recommended.

 

[sasliquid]

Eh I don't see Rand as annoying, at least he has conflicting. Where I am Matt is just really lucky and doesn't do anything.

Going through it slow tho.

 

[brianjones]

not related to the tom cruise movie

also re-reading infinite jest since after finishing it i haven't wanted to read much else

 

[brawly]

Finished Hyperion. Not a big of the first or third part of the book. The first, fifth and sixth personal stories basically. I'll probably read the sequel though, especially if it's set more in the here and now (someone answer this, please?).

Now I jumped into Red Rising: Golden Son. I missed this world so much and want to reread the first one already.

 

[Ravensmash]

Anyone read The Underground Railroad?

I have it but I'm struggling to get properly started with it for some reason.

Oh... And I'm craving another Cormac McCarthy book after The Road and No Country.

A lot of his stuff seems quite 'tough' to read. I have Child of God downloaded though, but is that the next step up in terms of his writing style?

 

[GK86]

I'm finishing up "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl."

Really sad and powerful stuff. To know how much a human being can suffer in a lifetime.

 

[sadblob]

Finished Hyperion. Not a big of the first or third part of the book. The first, fifth and sixth personal stories basically. I'll probably read the sequel though, especially if it's set more in the here and now (someone answer this, please?).

Indeed, it continues where the first ended, in the "present".

 

[hampig]

Ring

I started reading it because Rings was supposed to come out this month. It was delayed until early next year, but I'm not too disappointed. Ring is probably way better than Rings ever had any hope to be.

I'm about 3/5ths of the way done with the book, and it's been straight mystery with a bit of the supernatural hinted at. Not what I expected for sure, but it's actually been a really great read. I've heard that things take a twist at the end toward horror, and that the sequels are more sci-fi than anything, but I'm really excited to continue.

 

[brawly]

Indeed, it continues where the first ended, in the "present".

And straight forward from there?

 

[sadblob]

And straight forward from there?

You could say so.

 

[AngmarsKing701]

Well, if there is any silver lining to being without power for a couple of days, it's that I made some decent progress on Stone of Farewell. Over halfway now.

 

[Mumei]

I'm finishing up "Incidents in the Life of a Slave Girl."

Really sad and powerful stuff. To know how much a human being can suffer in a lifetime.

That book and this are two books from the period that I wanted to read after reading Manisha Sinha's The Slave's Cause: A History of Abolition.

 

[PeskyToaster]

I'm doing some fiction after a long stint of non fiction. By stint I mean like 3 years. So right now I'm reading 1Q84

And I bought all the Witcher books that they have in English so far.

I'm on the second one, Sword of Destiny right now.

 

[sparky2112]

not related to the tom cruise movie

also re-reading infinite jest since after finishing it i haven't wanted to read much else

Entire post approved. Last Samurai and IJ at the same time? How has your brain not exploded from all the awesome?

 

[kswiston]

I finished the Alchemist on Saturday. It was a decent book, but sort of cheesy.

I am now about a third of the way through City of Blades by Robert Bennett Jackson. So far, it's as good as the first book. If you haven't read City of Stairs yet, and want a fantasy novel that isn't set in an analogue of Medieval Europe, give it a try.

 

[Fancy Clown]

I've been slowly moving through my big ol copy of the complete works of HP Lovecraft. Some of the short stories have been slogs, but a lot of them are a lot of fun. Even if his language can be a bit too flowery, he's great at providing atmosphere, and some of the stories feel like a pulpier Poe. And then you get to something like Dagon and you marvel at the dude's imagination. I'm looking forward to his more well known stories but those are all many hundreds of pages in. I've been skipping a few stories here and there that seem to ere on the sloggier side of things, but I'm tempted to just jump all the way to At the Mountains of Madness or something.