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Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (6 Viewers)

Reading Steven Pinker's "The Better Angels of Our Nature"...I've read and enjoyed just about everything else he's written... no idea why I put this off for so long. I think it's just that I'd heard a summary of the argument so many times (and accepted its validity) that the need to read this thick tome didn't seem to be very pressing. What a mistake! There are gems on every page. For a taste, the next time you're in a book store, just read the summary of the Old Testament that begins at the top of page 6 and concludes at the top of page 12. Pinker is as nasty, brutish and short (and hilarious) as the OT is nasty, brutish and long.

 
Reading through The Passage for the second time, preparing for the City of Mirrors release in May.

Same thing happened to me as what happened in the first go-around. When Cronin jumped ahead and forced us to care about some, quite frankly, generic characters going forward, I lost interest a bit. It picked backed up with Amy showed back up. It just seemed that Cronin put a lot of thought into the main characters in the first part (even the supporting ones, too). The characters 92 years down the road? Meh. Alicia and Circuit are sort of interesting at times, especially the former.
 
Don Quixote said:
I'm about 50-60 pages in.  Writing style is taking some used to, but starting to get the rhythm.  I'm finding it okay so far.  My biggest concern right now is that it's almost too busy with the different narrators/characters.  I guess that comes with a novel of that ambition though.  I find myself more drawn to character study-type novels, and hard to get much depth when you've got 100 characters and he moves between them every few pages.  But maybe I will find more of that depth as the book moves along.
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I got about 250 pages left. I don't dislike this book but its almost work trying to read some chapters/parts.

 
Hmmm. 

Got through The Gunslinger.  It was a little rough at the start, but it picked up a little and I was able to knock it out.  I am about 1/3 of the way into The Drawing of the Three and still not fully on board.  Please tell me

It isn't a 7 book long episode of Quantum Leap

I found a podcast that also just started up a slow read of the series.  They did the same this for A Song of Ice and Fire, and I really loved it.  They have one newbie and one person familar with the series read it and talk about it.  I think I will pump the brakes a little on the books and go along with them.  I think they cover about 50 pages or so a week.  Interested enough to continue with the reading, but it isn't blowing my hair back enough where I can't wait to keep reading. 

Today I got Go Set a Watchman from the library and will start reading that. 

 
KarmaPolice said:
Hmmm. 

Got through The Gunslinger.  It was a little rough at the start, but it picked up a little and I was able to knock it out.  I am about 1/3 of the way into The Drawing of the Three and still not fully on board.  Please tell me

Hidden Content

I found a podcast that also just started up a slow read of the series.  They did the same this for A Song of Ice and Fire, and I really loved it.  They have one newbie and one person familar with the series read it and talk about it.  I think I will pump the brakes a little on the books and go along with them.  I think they cover about 50 pages or so a week.  Interested enough to continue with the reading, but it isn't blowing my hair back enough where I can't wait to keep reading. 

Today I got Go Set a Watchman from the library and will start reading that. 
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What is this podcast for ASOFAI?  They read the whole series aloud and discuss it?

 
Just finished Red Sparrow.  A little too romantic, but other than that really good old school America/Russia spy stuff...but modern day with Putin and whatnot.  Interesting recurring tool of placing a recipe (from the story) at the end of every chapter.  The author is a former CIA guy so I assume he came across the recipes in his real-life travels/work.  End of the day, I enjoyed it quite a bit and look forward to the sequel.

 
KarmaPolice said:
Hmmm. 

Got through The Gunslinger.  It was a little rough at the start, but it picked up a little and I was able to knock it out.  I am about 1/3 of the way into The Drawing of the Three and still not fully on board.  Please tell me

Hidden Content

I found a podcast that also just started up a slow read of the series.  They did the same this for A Song of Ice and Fire, and I really loved it.  They have one newbie and one person familar with the series read it and talk about it.  I think I will pump the brakes a little on the books and go along with them.  I think they cover about 50 pages or so a week.  Interested enough to continue with the reading, but it isn't blowing my hair back enough where I can't wait to keep reading. 

Today I got Go Set a Watchman from the library and will start reading that. 
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I feel the same way as you. I'm currently probably 20% into The Drawing of the Three and I'm not sure I want to keep going. I'll probably stick it out through this book and if I'm not sold, I'll move on. 

I'm actually listening to these on audiobooks on my daily commute, so that might be part of the problem as I'm not quite listening 100% and the books are way out there. For as hard of a time as I'm having getting through these, they might be the best narrated books I've ever listened to.

I've had a few people tell me to power through the first book as the next few after that are some of King's best work, so I'm hopeful it will pick up for me.

 
Go Set a Watchman is a #### book.     The only reason to read it is as someone interested in literary history. 

 
Just started Mornings on Horseback (the teddy Roosevelt one). Slow going at first. 

Have Devotion queued after that. 

Loved the book Pirate Hunters about the divers looking for a sunken pirate ship. 

 
shuke said:
What is this podcast for ASOFAI?  They read the whole series aloud and discuss it?
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I found a few of them, but stuck with one titled Unspoiled. The concept is to have one person of the group be completely new to a show or book series, and one+ be familiar with it.  They don't read it aloud - they would just read a chapter a week and then get together and talk about it.  By the time I stumbled on it, they were pretty far into the series, so I just listened to a lot of them and tagged along with book 5.  One main woman does all of them, and they do Harry Potter, Game of Thrones shows, The Wire, Breaking Bad, and a bunch of others.  She just started The Dark Tower (I think they are on The Gunslinger Chapter 3 this week) with somebody from ASOIAF podcasts.  I liked him - pretty sure he wrote for the Tower of the Hand website too.  Man did they hate season 5...

 
facook said:
Kinda...  Believe it me it will get more ridiculous.  But the good parts are SOO GREAT it is worth it.
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Oh boy.  But I keep hearing/reading that book 2 and 3 ARE the good parts.  So even if I struggle with book 2, you are saying I should keep going?

 
Kev4029 said:
I feel the same way as you. I'm currently probably 20% into The Drawing of the Three and I'm not sure I want to keep going. I'll probably stick it out through this book and if I'm not sold, I'll move on. 

I'm actually listening to these on audiobooks on my daily commute, so that might be part of the problem as I'm not quite listening 100% and the books are way out there. For as hard of a time as I'm having getting through these, they might be the best narrated books I've ever listened to.

I've had a few people tell me to power through the first book as the next few after that are some of King's best work, so I'm hopeful it will pick up for me.
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I will be interested in your take of book 2 then. 

I have tried audiobooks, but just can't do it.  I was surprised, as I listen to podcasts and sports talk in the car all the time, but I found out quickly that I just don't pay attention enough as I am doing other things to really follow along with a book.  I tried it with one of the George RR Martin books and couldn't remember #### by the time I got home. 

 
Ilov80s said:
Go Set a Watchman is a #### book.     The only reason to read it is as someone interested in literary history. 
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I am finding this out. 

Mockingbird is an all time favorite.  I am glad that I looked up info on this yesterday before I started to put it in context.  I just remember hearing rumblings of it being a sequel when it first came out, so I am glad that I read that it was written before and is basically a rough draft of Mockingbird.  Makes more sense, and didn't really have high hopes before I started last night. 

 
Swing 51 said:
Don Quixote said:
Finished "Fates and Furies".  Really enjoyed it.  Liked Groff's writing style and going to have to read some of her other books.  I'm not sure it's up to the "book of the year" standards that have been lauded upon it, but I guess I haven't read everything put out in the past year.

Started "A Brief History of Seven Killings" after looking it up based on Swing's mention of it.  May be a bit more challenging than what I typically go for in my 10pm wind down reading, but I'll have to power through.
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Going to start this over the weekend. I've heard its a bit of a challenging read.
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I finished A Brief History of Seven Killings - not sure how I feel about it, still processing I guess. But not sure I can recommend it. What did you think Don?

 
Swing 51 said:
I finished A Brief History of Seven Killings - not sure how I feel about it, still processing I guess. But not sure I can recommend it. What did you think Don?
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I'm still trudging through it.  I'm kind of "meh" on it.  I posted early in my read that I think it's too ambitious for its own good, which is still where I'm at.

 
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KarmaPolice said:
Oh boy.  But I keep hearing/reading that book 2 and 3 ARE the good parts.  So even if I struggle with book 2, you are saying I should keep going?
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Yeah, I felt like 2-4 were the best of the lot.  The ridiculousness to me is sky high in 6, to the point I almost gave up.  But 7 was good.

So yes, imo it is worth it.  The greatness outweighs the dumb.

 
Don Quixote said:
I'm still trudging through it.  I'm kind of "meh" on it.  I posted early in my read that I think it's too ambitious for its own good, which is still where I'm at.
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Yes, that is a good adjective to use. Parts of the book I really liked but reading other parts seemed like "work" to get thru.

 
joker said:
I've also struggled with "Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell", but it could very well be because I'm listening to the audiobook and the narrator has failed to pull me in. I've set it aside for now and will get back to it.

I took someone's advice from this string and have started on the Ryeria Chronicles while I wait for the next Locke Lamore book, and so far it's been fantastic! Just finished "Theft of Swords" and have started on "Rise of Empire". I'm easy to please, but these grabbed me from the start and the narrator has been very good. I heartily recommend these and give big thanks to whoever recommended it (I went back three pages but couldn't find the recommendation - I'm sure it's there somewhere!) :thumbup: :thumbup: :thumbup:
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Finished Ryeria Chronicles, then moved onto Ryeria Revelations and finished those as well. Loved all of them and am very happy to have found them in this thread. Not sure what I'm going to go onto next, though.

 
Search function not really helping me here.  I am looking for a good book on the Revolutionary War.  I think I would prefer it to be more timeline driven focusing on the events leading up to and the pivotal engagements.  Not really looking for comprehensive backgrounds on all the individuals involved.

 
Chaka said:
Search function not really helping me here.  I am looking for a good book on the Revolutionary War.  I think I would prefer it to be more timeline driven focusing on the events leading up to and the pivotal engagements.  Not really looking for comprehensive backgrounds on all the individuals involved.
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"The Glorious Cause" by Middlekauff is one that I'd recommend. It is part of the Oxford History of the United States series.

 
He didn't write too many books so  I often go long periods between reading his work, but could anyone write as well as Fitzgerald? It takes me forever to read his stuff because I feel the need to re-read every page, every line several times because it's all just so damn perfect.

"It was a limpid black night, hung in a basket from a single dull star. "

“The strongest guard is placed at the gateway to nothing. Maybe because the condition of emptiness is too shameful to be divulged.”

“Her fine high forehead sloped gently up to where her hair, bordering it like an armorial shield, burst into lovelocks and waves and curlicues of ash blonde and gold. Her eyes were bright, big, clear, wet and shining, the colour of her cheeks was real, breaking close to the surface from the strong young pump of her heart. Her body hovered delicately on the last edge of childhood -- she was almost eighteen, nearly complete, but the dew was still on her.” 

 
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KarmaPolice said:
I found a few of them, but stuck with one titled Unspoiled. The concept is to have one person of the group be completely new to a show or book series, and one+ be familiar with it.  They don't read it aloud - they would just read a chapter a week and then get together and talk about it.  By the time I stumbled on it, they were pretty far into the series, so I just listened to a lot of them and tagged along with book 5.  One main woman does all of them, and they do Harry Potter, Game of Thrones shows, The Wire, Breaking Bad, and a bunch of others.  She just started The Dark Tower (I think they are on The Gunslinger Chapter 3 this week) with somebody from ASOIAF podcasts.  I liked him - pretty sure he wrote for the Tower of the Hand website too.  Man did they hate season 5...
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:blackdot:

 
I bought this at X

Captain Fantastic said:
If you like thrillers, may I humbly suggest this one?

Hostile Takeover by Derek Blount

[And keep in mind that in the above, "humbly suggest" = "please purchase so my kids can eat in 2016"]

If you want a 2-page sample before investing your hard-earned dollars (and time) in the novel, here is a short story published in MENSA Magazine a couple months ago.

And if you do buy Hostile Takeover...thanks! :thanks: :hifive:
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Bought this around Xmas and finally got around to reading it. It was a good thriller and I will buy the 2nd book. How are the books doing?

 
Girl Waits With Gun by Amy Stewart

Constance Kopp doesn’t quite fit the mold. She towers over most men, has no interest in marriage or domestic affairs, and has been isolated from the world since a family secret sent her and her sisters into hiding fifteen years ago. One day a belligerent and powerful silk factory owner runs down their buggy, and a dispute over damages turns into a war of bricks, bullets, and threats as he unleashes his gang on their family farm. When the sheriff enlists her help in convicting the men, Constance is forced to confront her past and defend her family — and she does it in a way that few women of 1914 would have dared. 
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Devotion by Adam Makos is pretty great for anyone who likes war non-fiction historic narratives (Korean War).  I'd put it up there with Stephen Ambrose and James Bradley stuff.

 
Got through the Eddie portion of Drawing of the Three, and still not sold.  Still surprised that people cite this as some of King's best work. Will keep trudging through, but will be at a slower pace. 

I just randomly picked up some books at the library that looked short.  First one I read was Montana 1948.  Short little book about a boy's family and it's turmoils. Reminded me of To Kill a Mockingbird a little.  Decent little read. 

Right now I am 1/2 way through Finding Jake.  Liking it so far.  It's about a stay at home dad who's son may or may not be involved in school shooting.  Goes back and forth between present day and the past as his son is growing up and observations about his son.  Really has hit some notes with me as a dad (and one that stayed at home for a couple years) and some of the thoughts I had. 

 
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El Floppo said:
So now mostly through the re-read of 100 Years of Solitude. Stunning prose and yeah, the magical realism is still fun. I know it's kind of the point, but the cyclical nature of the family members lives/characteristics and repeated names has made it a bit sloggish.
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ok... finally finished the re-read. I was trying to read a few pages here or there, and it was too tough to do that way given the repeated names/stories that occur. but had a good couple hours on the train down to my inlaws, and finished it up. 

I had forgotten how brilliant the ending was. just perfect. whatever slogging I had to do was forgotten... just an amazing end to an amazing book. really glad I took the time to re-read this and remember why in my forgotten memory it was in my top 3 books. I really wish I liked Marqez's other work as much.

my mom (english/lit teacher) sent me a new book to read (name already forgotten), so I'll probably give that a go considering her last recommendation, Out Stealing Horses was so amazing. or maybe I'll continue my 20+ years later rereading thing and jump back into Absalom Absalom!

 
KarmaPolice said:
Got through the Eddie portion of Drawing of the Three, and still not sold.  Still surprised that people cite this as some of King's best work. Will keep trudging through, but will be at a slower pace. 
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I'm about 80% with the book. I'm still not sold either but I've found it entertaining enough to keep my attention. Unless it picks up here at the end of the book, I'll probably read a couple other books and then come back to the third of the series. At that point I'll probably hang it up unless the third book converts me.

 
sfflchamp said:
I bought this at X

Bought this around Xmas and finally got around to reading it. It was a good thriller and I will buy the 2nd book. How are the books doing?
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Thanks, sfflchamp! I'm so glad you enjoyed HOSTILE TAKEOVER.  :thanks:

The book is doing well for a novel from an "unknown" writer. Sales are consistent and reviews are great (phew!).

Of course, "consistent" doesn't mean "gangbusters" so the biggest challenge is public awareness. For the vast majority of readers, when they go to buy a book, they gravitate toward authors they've already read. New books (well, new authors) are heavily reliant on word-of-mouth advertising.

It's wonderful when readers tell me they liked Hostile Takeover just as much as Author X (comparisons have ranged from Dennis Lehane to Gillian Flynn to David Baldacci to Stephen King...all of those are flattering though it seems to often align with whichever author is currently in the reader's "I really like" stable). But while it's an honor to be compared with those writers, the bigger compliment (and goal) is for the reader to tell their friends/family/book-club to buy the book.  :thumbup:

Gearing up for the release of SECOND SON early this summer (which is actually running behind since the original goal was first of the year). I've received a lot of "where's the next book?" questions through my website. Really looking forward to releasing it and hopefully seeing an accompanying bump in sales of Hostile Takeover.

If anyone else would like to give it a shot, please check it out on amazon here - HOSTILE TAKEOVER

And if you REALLY want to help a FBG brother out, please consider writing a review on Amazon or Goodreads once you've finished.   :hifive:

Or sharing it on Facebook. Or Twitter. Or LinkedIn. Or Pinterest. Or MySpace. Or whatever the kids use for sharing these days.  :whistle:

 
Ilov80s said:
He didn't write too many books so  I often go long periods between reading his work, but could anyone write as well as Fitzgerald? It takes me forever to read his stuff because I feel the need to re-read every page, every line several times because it's all just so damn perfect.

"It was a limpid black night, hung in a basket from a single dull star. "

“The strongest guard is placed at the gateway to nothing. Maybe because the condition of emptiness is too shameful to be divulged.”

“Her fine high forehead sloped gently up to where her hair, bordering it like an armorial shield, burst into lovelocks and waves and curlicues of ash blonde and gold. Her eyes were bright, big, clear, wet and shining, the colour of her cheeks was real, breaking close to the surface from the strong young pump of her heart. Her body hovered delicately on the last edge of childhood -- she was almost eighteen, nearly complete, but the dew was still on her.” 
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Full name or books he's written?

 
Sand said:
I read your message as someone who was still alive, so dismissed that Fitzgerald.  

Doh!
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It's a pretty common last name so it's a fair question. Now if I said "Dostoevsky" and you wanted me to be more specific, maybe that would be weird. 

 
Seems like as good a thread as any to note the passing of Jim Harrison.  He was a hell of a writer and a character big enough to inhabit a novel himself.  His persona made Hemingway comparisons inevitable but his writing style was very different. 

"Legends of the Fall" is probably his most famous work thanks to Brad Pitt.  It's not a bad place to start because it's a plot-driven novella but it lacks the scope and scale of his other works.

Here's a short story that gives another taste of Harrison.

 
Reading The Sugar Coated Nutsack by Mark Leyner.   Leyner has continually reinvented himself as a writer...this has a David Foster Walllace meets Neil Gaiman feel.

 
Bill Bryson - A Short History of Nearly Everything

I believe I saw the recommendation for this here, but only recently got around to it.  I'll keep it brief: it's probably the best non-fiction book I've ever read and certainly the best science-related book I've read.  Can't recommend it enough, especially the audiobook.

 
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bananafish said:
I feel like the internet has destroyed my attention span. I used to read on a daily basis, at least before bed. Now I can't remember the last book I read cover to cover. 

I'm kinda disappointed in myself, but probably not enough to do anything about it. Which is even more disappointing.
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Audiobooks have been a game-changer for me. Being able to load a book up on my phone and play it anytime I want helped me 'read' through about a book a week.

 
cstu said:
Audiobooks have been a game-changer for me. Being able to load a book up on my phone and play it anytime I want helped me 'read' through about a book a week.
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I just don't pay attention well enough to go this route. Because I am doing other stuff at the same time, I will go 20mins and not remember what is going on in the story. 

 
Recently finished The Poison Artist by Jonathan Moore.  Really good, really creepy debut novel.

Currently on The Serpent's Tooth, another excellent Longmire novel.

 
I am sure that others have read and talked about it in here, but started Robopocalypse the other day and I am really digging it.  It is basically like World War Z, but with machines taking over.  Really well done, and some genuinely creepy ideas and moments in the book so far.

 
Just finished book 1 of The Chathrand Voyage series, called The Red Wolf Conspiracy.  A great read and I highly recommend for fantasy fans.  Familiar fantasy themes written very well - middle-ages, sailing, magic, good vs. evil, etc.  

Also recently finished Songs of the Earth, book 1 of The Wild Hunt series.  Another one I'd recommend for fantasy readers - it's heavy on the magic and shape shifting themes, also set in the Middle Ages.  

Both are tough to start reads - the authors toss you right in the middle of the stories, making the beginnings tough to follow, but well worth it.

 
Working my way through the Undying Mercenary series starting with Steel World.  Good, pure pulp sci fi books.  Not a lot of heavy thinking but definitely an entertaining ride. 

 
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