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Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (5 Viewers)

SofaKings said:
Yankee23Fan said:
Just picked up 1634: The Baltic War to read on my drive down to Florida. Got a few chapters in. Continues the solid and interesting story line of the Ring of Fire Series. I find myself enjoying many of hte characters more then I thought I would. It's by no means a great in literature but it's fun, and the story line has some great potential.
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Is the Ring of Fire series decent?
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I'm enjoying it a lot.
 
shuke said:
While I like science fiction, I'm not really a "fantasy" guy. A friend highly recommended A Game of Thrones.

I just saw that this is book 1 of 6 and since it is about 700 pages I am a little wary about diving in.
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Finally got some time to finish this. I loved it. 9/10.I definitely will continue with the series, but will probably space it out considering how long it is taking him to finish.

Not sure what's next.

 
timschochet said:
Uruk-Hai said:
Just started King's Under The Dome.
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Just finished it. Most enjoyable King book for me in years, reminiscent of his two other magnum opuses, The Stand and It.But its not as good as those, mainly because the characters aren't as well drawn out, IMO. His villain, though, is one of King's best. Worth the read.
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:goodposting: I finished it about a week ago...

Once I was about halfway in, I couldn't put it down... i NEEDED to find out what happened with the Dome.

Very decent book, by far his best book in long time, but by far not his best work ever. Reminded me of

"The Mist" a little bit.

 
Sand said:
shuke said:
Sand said:
Just finished Beat the Reaper.

Holy crap - Buy. This. Book. It is a breezy read (I consumed it in 3 hours or so). Awesome story and filled with all kinds of obscure facts. One of the most original and well written books I have read in years.
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:lmao:
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If you read it please chime in with your opinion. I'd be very interested in another take on it.
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Great book. Funny, gruesome, fast-paced, and well-written. I think almost any guy who likes to read will like this book.
 
Finished Hard Times by Charles Dickens and Bel Canto by Ann Patchett during some recent extended travels. Both were good reads, although I'd rate Hard Times the lowest of the Dickens that I've read so far.

Now I'm reading The World According to Garp by John Irving.

 
playin4beer said:
timschochet said:
Uruk-Hai said:
Just started King's Under The Dome.
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Just finished it. Most enjoyable King book for me in years, reminiscent of his two other magnum opuses, The Stand and It.But its not as good as those, mainly because the characters aren't as well drawn out, IMO. His villain, though, is one of King's best. Worth the read.
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:goodposting: I finished it about a week ago...

Once I was about halfway in, I couldn't put it down... i NEEDED to find out what happened with the Dome.

Very decent book, by far his best book in long time, but by far not his best work ever. Reminded me of

"The Mist" a little bit.
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Just finished this & really enjoyed it. There's nothing groundbreaking here - King's done all of this before in stories like "The Mist", Needful Things, The Stand, The Tommyknockers, and IT (among about 2 dozen other works). In many ways, this book combines just about everything he does well, while staying away from his weaknesses.The When-He's-On-Stephen-King Checklist:

1. Characters you care about - check

2. Small town America done like no other - check

3. Taking everyday life and dumping unexplainable horror down on it - check

His biggest weakness - how to end a long story. I think he's finally understood that and doesn't waste a ton of time on it. He does it here simply and (relatively speaking) believably. Don't wanna say too much more on this as it will spoil things. I think he ends this one fine.

One other thing about King that I feel like mentioning: he's a better writer now than he used to be. His plots may not be as good (or at least, as original) as they used to be, but he can now write circles around young Steve King. There are passages in this book (& Duma Key & DTVII) that will break your heart.

 
Denialism by Michael Specter.

Not a bad read. He makes a few too many logical fallacies for my liking, and then attempts to ground his argument on the conclusions that he believes follow, but all in all worth reading IMO.

 
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pantagrapher said:
Got tricked into joining a book club, so next up is The People of Paper by Salvador Plascencia. Sounds good from what I've heard.
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I'm fairly confident nothing is going to save this book in the last 10 pages, so I'll go ahead and tell you now this one was pretty disappointing. He has a boring writing style that he compensates for with some gimmickry and metafiction. There are a few great moments toward the middle of the book, but it loses steam quickly and gradually falls back into plodding self-indulgence.
 
Horrorshow said:
"Ham on Rye" by Charles Bukowski.
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Awesome book...it's often compared to Catcher in the Rye for the teen angst angle...and I enjoyed Rye much more. It's more accessible and in your face. If you like this...try out King Dork by Frank Portman. It's lighter and not as well written...but it's a great blast of nostalgia and very relatable.
 
Best Served Cold by Joe Abercrombie

Stand-alone fantasy set in the same world as his First Law trilogy. Not quite to the level of the trilogy, though that only brings it down to very, very good. But, amazingly, it's even more bleak than his first three books. There's not a single 'good' character. In fact, pretty much every character is downright bad.

Abercrombie is right there with Martin as my favorite fantasy writer.

 
playin4beer said:
timschochet said:
Uruk-Hai said:
Just started King's Under The Dome.
Click to expand...
Just finished it. Most enjoyable King book for me in years, reminiscent of his two other magnum opuses, The Stand and It.But its not as good as those, mainly because the characters aren't as well drawn out, IMO. His villain, though, is one of King's best. Worth the read.
Click to expand...
:popcorn: I finished it about a week ago...

Once I was about halfway in, I couldn't put it down... i NEEDED to find out what happened with the Dome.

Very decent book, by far his best book in long time, but by far not his best work ever. Reminded me of

"The Mist" a little bit.
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Finished this about a month ago and enjoyed it. For such a long book, I agree that the characters weren't well drawn out. I never had a clear picture of Barbie or what he was all about. The bad guys were evil from the start; it would have been interesting to see if good or neutral characters would have been corrupted by life under the dome. And I was a little disappointed with the reveal of the origin of the dome.I liked The Stand a lot better, but this and Duma Key have both been solid. Wonder what he's going to do next. I was reminded of The Pillars of the Earth by Ken Follett while reading this book. Both were epic and scope and featured a scheming bad guy that the good guy had to keep one step ahead of.

 
About 2/3 of the way through the Count of Monte Cristo. Had not read it again since the 9th grade. What a great novel.

 
About halfway into The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway and I'm bored to tears. There are times when it seems to get interesting/promising but then it just drones on and on again and becomes a tedious read. I'm about to shelve it and move on to the latest Dexter book.

Anyone here read it that thinks it gets better in the 2nd half?

 
Gigantomachia said:
Denialism by Michael Specter.

Not a bad read. He makes a few too many logical fallacies for my liking, and then attempts to ground his argument on the conclusions that he believes follow, but all in all worth reading IMO.
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I really wanted to like this book, but having just finished it, while Specter makes some good points his argument remains extremely problematic due to his picking and choosing particular claims while ignoring broader questions.Still, not the worst thing a person can read. It only takes a few days.

 
kupcho1 said:
Also just finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Holy ####, what a great, great book. I highly recommend it.
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Based on some of the thumbs up here it's now on my list. Thanks for the recommendation.
igbomb said:
Superfreakonomics by Steven Levitt and Stephen Dubner

This one was a very weak imitation of their first book, which I really liked. It is much shorter and seems lighter on the science. Essentially, this entire book could have been handled in a few posts on their blog.
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Loves Freakonomics and I'll check out the blog from time to time. Disappointed to read that the follow up is underwhelming.
Uruk-Hai said:
Just started King's Under The Dome.

Just finished it. Most enjoyable King book for me in years, reminiscent of his two other magnum opuses, The Stand and It.But its not as good as those, mainly because the characters aren't as well drawn out, IMO. His villain, though, is one of King's best. Worth the read.
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Kind of gave up on King but this one sounds intriguing.
RedmondLonghorn said:
I just finished the Men Who Stare at Goats.

I thought it was just a little better than okay. I definitely enjoyed it, but it also rambled on and it's semi-serious tone left me wondering what it was trying to be.
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Sounds just like the film. Meh.
Tough As Nails said:
Awesome book...it's often compared to Catcher in the Rye for the teen angst angle...and I enjoyed Rye much more. It's more accessible and in your face.

If you like this...try out King Dork by Frank Portman. It's lighter and not as well written...but it's a great blast of nostalgia and very relatable.
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Loved "King Dork". The writer is Dr. Frank from the band The Mr T. Experience and I was intrigued by the premise (MTX is a punk band I loved in my youth. This was cemented when I was have having a beer next door to a gig and he walked in prior to the show. I bought him a beer and he came across as a cool guy.) It's a quick read that doesn't break new ground but the "great blast of nostalgia" post above is accurate.
 
Sand said:
Just finished Beat the Reaper.

Holy crap - Buy. This. Book. It is a breezy read (I consumed it in 3 hours or so). Awesome story and filled with all kinds of obscure facts. One of the most original and well written books I have read in years.
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I finished this a little while ago after getting in from my library. I really liked it. I'm a fan of Crichton so I enjoyed the action narrative with science sprinkled in. One thing that threw me off is that the author says that the little facts may or may not be true (in the notes section after the book). I wasn't sure what to believe after that.
 
Socrates11 said:
About halfway into The Gone-Away World by Nick Harkaway and I'm bored to tears. There are times when it seems to get interesting/promising but then it just drones on and on again and becomes a tedious read. I'm about to shelve it and move on to the latest Dexter book.Anyone here read it that thinks it gets better in the 2nd half?
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It depends...if you are past a certain point in the book (there's a big plot twist) and still think it's boring...I'd give up. If that part interested you, then move forward. You'll know the part I'm talking about if you've read it.
 
Tough As Nails said:
Horrorshow said:
"Ham on Rye" by Charles Bukowski.
Click to expand...
Awesome book...it's often compared to Catcher in the Rye for the teen angst angle...and I enjoyed Rye much more. It's more accessible and in your face. If you like this...try out King Dork by Frank Portman. It's lighter and not as well written...but it's a great blast of nostalgia and very relatable.
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Huge fan of Bukowski. King Dork sounds interesting - thanks for the recommendation. :cool:
 
Buddy of mine made #8 on this list of Top Books from Generation X from Details Magazine. His book is entitled "The Father of All Things." :lmao: I haven't read it but would be interested to hear from any who have.

Link

 
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Finished Under the Dome by S King. I enjoyed it quite a bit. I am a huge fan who may praise a grocery list he wrote. :blackdot:

I do have one question about the story though.

 
Listening to Pirate Latitudes by Michael Crichton while in the car. About halfway through. I'm impressed that the reader can get through some of this prose without laughing (maybe this required multiple takes). One of my favorite lines from the bad guy so far: "And my mistress shall dine on your ####." There's a woman pirate, um I mean privateer, who disorients her enemy by brandishing her breasts before stabbing him. And there's an explosives guy known simply as "The Jew." All in all, awesome.

Huh, didn't know that was filtered. Rhymes with chesticles.

 
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Horrorshow said:
Tough As Nails said:
Horrorshow said:
"Ham on Rye" by Charles Bukowski.
Click to expand...
Awesome book...it's often compared to Catcher in the Rye for the teen angst angle...and I enjoyed Rye much more. It's more accessible and in your face. If you like this...try out King Dork by Frank Portman. It's lighter and not as well written...but it's a great blast of nostalgia and very relatable.
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Huge fan of Bukowski. King Dork sounds interesting - thanks for the recommendation. :unsure:
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Currently rediscovering the considerable low life delights of "Post Office". :banned:
 
Been knocking off a whole list of books recommended by folks here the last two months.

The Road - awesome, looking forward to seeing the movie but wasn't released around here

Carrion Comfort - Dan Simmons, was a decent, not great horror book with interesting concept. No emotional attachment to characters lost made it less than great for me, plus not a great bang for the buck as it is looong and cumbersome to read.

The City of Ember series (youth books: City of Ember, People of Sparks, Prophet of Yonwood, Diamond of Darkhold). The first and last books were decent, the other two not so much. Wouldn't really recommend them though to adult readers, lacked real gripping story.

Quicksilver - started reading it, didn't grab my attention, stopped at about 100 pages

World War Z - awesome, well researched, about zombies but more about humanity in the event of catasrophy

Hunger Games - Suzanne Collins, another book aimed at young adults, but this one was good, very much in the vein of Battle Royale by Takami which I liked more but HG was good. Am on the library waiting list for the sequel - Catching Fire.

I'm currently reading the Dexter series (Showtime show based on the books) and the first one, Darkly Dreaming Dexter (by Jeff Lindsay) is cool so far. Easy read and interesting subject matter. Also started the Harry Potter series on CD for my commute, which is a nice light and fun story.

 
Got Slaughterhouse 5 for Christmas. It seems somewhat interesting so far. But I hope it picks up a bit. Slightly boring. Certainly not a page turner...yet.

 
Island of the World, by Michael D. O'Brien.

So far I've read only the prologue:

Prologue

I am old. Time has revealed itself and shed its pretense of eternity; though it is of course contained within eternity. I clean the hallways, take out the garbage, try not to be irritated by the roar of ten million automobiles, and by the jackhammers that are breaking up the street outside the front door, only to lay down another stratum of tar for future generations to dig up. This is a big city, and though I have lived within it for close to forty years, I still do not understand how it survives.

Its people display an astonishing variety of colors, languages, temperaments, and ratios of good and evil (as is everywhere), but they do not seem unhappy. Neither do they contemplate the body of the world. Its foundations are below them, they believe, in the concrete and tar, the pipes and wires. During my time among them I have noticed this delusion particularly. Seldom have I encountered the few who are awake, who cast their gaze to the real foundations, which, as human beings should know, are above.

Soon I will leave this place and return to my first home. Perhaps I will find myself waiting for me there. Is this a candid admission that I have failed to know myself? Yes, of course it is. What else is there to learn save that we know almost nothing? I am not referring to biographical data, but to something more important, the character of presence that appears to be displacement, as a stone or tree displaces air as it fills space. That I am a displaced person is true enough. Yet this is true of all men, each in his way. What is to be learned of me now rests in memory; the interior, a country that contains ranges of mountains and their shadowed vales, the beds of alpine glens, the crevasse and its fall from which there is no return, and the summit from which one does not wish to return.

Why do we in memory seek ourselves, when it is ourselves who shape the memories? The truth is, we shape and are shaped. In the beginning we unwittingly find our forms, as the first steps of a child. Later we take our longer strides, with secret timorousness, preferring a crowd of companions. Then, in time, we go farther out into the world with blind and knowing willfulness, with good intent and ill, alone inside ourselves. For in solitude the blur of safe indistinction becomes sharp and dangerous identity. Then, when identity has sealed its form, we seek union with the other islands, within the island of the world.

Of my life I can only resort to pictures. It began, as most lives do, with warmth and milk and love.

The village was hidden from the world. At least it thought itself so, for it was ringed by peaks, and its people assumed that a valley suspended so high above all others was exempt from tribulation. We the young believed this. Our elders encouraged the illusion. They did not want to rob us of our joy and perhaps desired to share in it a little. And so the mountains were the meridians of all creation. The brook that came to us from the upper crags ran unfailing, clear and swift between the houses. The little fields and flocks fed us well. From other places men of wisdom came from time to time and taught us of the world beyond, which was a place of fear and confusion. For us, the children of Rajska Polja, which is the fields of heaven, their accounts seemed more remote than the tales of Anthony and Francis, who could talk to fish and birds.

In this place where we first appeared, we did not doubt that love is the path of ascent. We did not think of it, as we did not think of the air we breathed. In time our flesh received instruction as we grew, and our hearts and our souls. We came to know that love is the soul of the world, though its body bleeds, and we must learn to bleed with it. Love is also the seed and milk and the fruit of the world, though we can partake of it in greed or reverence.

We are born, we eat, and learn, and die. We leave a tracery of messages in the lives of others, a little shifting of the soil, a stone moved from here to there, a word uttered, a song, a poem left behind. I was here, each of these declare. I was here.
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Looks pretty good so far.
 
American on Purpose by Craig Ferguson

Got it and several others for Christmas.

 
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Just got done reading NutureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson.

This is one of the better books I've read in a long time. Each chapter covers recent research on child development, each with counter-intuitive findings. For example, why is the wussification of kids (over coddling, everyone wins in sports, etc) back firing? It's more of a social science book than parenting book.

If you liked Freakonomics or Malcolm Gladwell stuff, I highly recommend. If you liked these and are also a parent, definitely put this on your list.

 
bigbottom said:
Sand said:
shuke said:
Sand said:
Just finished Beat the Reaper.

Holy crap - Buy. This. Book. It is a breezy read (I consumed it in 3 hours or so). Awesome story and filled with all kinds of obscure facts. One of the most original and well written books I have read in years.
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:blackdot:
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If you read it please chime in with your opinion. I'd be very interested in another take on it.
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What a fun read. Quirky, grisly, funny, repulsive.
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Reading this now. It is a fun easy read.
 
ODoyleRules said:
Just got done reading NutureShock: New Thinking About Children by Po Bronson.

This is one of the better books I've read in a long time. Each chapter covers recent research on child development, each with counter-intuitive findings. For example, why is the wussification of kids (over coddling, everyone wins in sports, etc) back firing? It's more of a social science book than parenting book.

If you liked Freakonomics or Malcolm Gladwell stuff, I highly recommend. If you liked these and are also a parent, definitely put this on your list.
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:goodposting:
 
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