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Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (20 Viewers)

coldchill said:
Just finished Judge & Jury by James Patterson/Andrew Gross

An easy, light read. Reasonably entertaining. Better than some of his recent books and a nice alternative to TV. If you're looking for substance, look elsewhere.
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I really enjoyed 'Judge & Jury'. Now I'm waiting to hear if anyone has read Stephen King's new one, 'Lisey's Story'. So far I'm hearing good, but his newer stuff has disappointed me.
 
Land of Opportunity

This was a great book by William Adler. It is the true story that was the base for the movie New Jack City about the crack cocaine epidemic in the 1980s. This looked into a family from Arkansas who moved to Detroit and basically cornered the market in a large city for crack cocaine.

This book is very detailed and is relevant to anyone interested in the trappings of urban life and the fascinating networks of people needed to run an operation of this kind. There are some very interesting twists and turns and the research by Adler to get this book done is impeccable. Very good read.

 
Wyldfox said:
coldchill said:
Just finished Judge & Jury by James Patterson/Andrew Gross

An easy, light read. Reasonably entertaining. Better than some of his recent books and a nice alternative to TV. If you're looking for substance, look elsewhere.
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I really enjoyed 'Judge & Jury'. Now I'm waiting to hear if anyone has read Stephen King's new one, 'Lisey's Story'. So far I'm hearing good, but his newer stuff has disappointed me.
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:hey: Currently about 140 pages into Lisey's Story. I'm enjoying it so far. I'm a pretty big fan of Stephen King, and haven't been as negative on his recent stuff as many seem to be. Even so, I'm enjoying Lisey quite a bit. If I had to compare it to his other work, I might say it's a bit like Bag of Bones in its characterization. Not quite so paranormal (at least so far), but the characters have depth like that one did, and the writer as character shtick seems to work well in this one too. I'd give it a thumb's up so far, and recommend it.
 
Finished up two books this weekend.

Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card

Excellent! I liked this one almost as much as the original. I hope the next one in the series stays similar in style to this one and doesn't bore me like Xenocide and Children of the Mind did.

The Girl Next Door by Jack Ketchum

This one made me sick to my stomach. Regardless, it was an excellent book. I had recently read an account of the story this was based on, so I was a little more prepared for it. Not a pleasant topic. If you're into horror, it's definitely worth checking out. But it's disturbing, with descriptions of violence on children.

 
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I am reading another Edward Abbey book titled The Journey Home. Now, I have to say I am not a naturalist freak or anything, but Abbey's descriptions of several western national parks are excellent. I lived in Wyoming for six years and reading his books (I read Desert Solitaire as well) reminds me of the good parts of living out West.

 
Just finished Gone by Jonathon Kellerman. Pretty good Alex Delaware novel. Also just finished Baghdad by Bus. Can't remember who wrote it. Interesting look at Iraq in 2004. two civilians go there and start an aid program. Man, the govt. screwed things up over there. You didn't need me to tell you that.

 
Finished Underworld by Don DeLillo. Very good book.

Waste is an extended metaphor throughout the novel. It explores themes of fractured identity and the ways in which meaning is constructed in contemporary American life. A central extended metaphor is that of religion and the underworld of nuclear technology and its power structures.

In May 2006, The New York Times Book Review named Underworld as a runner up for the best work of American fiction of the previous twenty five years.
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Also raced through The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon over the weekend (it's only 152 pages). I don't know why it took me so long to get around to reading it. By far Pynchon's most linearly constructed and accessible book.Just started At Swim-Two-Birds by Flann O'Brien (one pen-name of Brian O'Nolan). Also very good (although I'm sure I'm missing a good bit of the satire, not being that intimately familiar with Irish mythology.

 
Finished Darkly Dreaming Dexter (and finally saw the pilot episode from Showtime)- the book really gets you into the character's head. It's also a fairly quick read. However if you're drawn into the series, I'm guessing the book spoils a lot of where the series is going.

Looking forward to the follow-up book.

 
kupcho1 said:
Also raced through The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon over the weekend (it's only 152 pages). I don't know why it took me so long to get around to reading it. By far Pynchon's most linearly constructed and accessible book.
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Would you recommend this to someone who had trouble finishing Vineland, but thinks maybe Pynchon deserves another chance?
 
Anyone read Running with Scissors? I'm working on it right now. It is supposedly a memoir. Pretty disturbing book, though I'm not sure that I'm buying everything that the author/narrator says. They are making a movie out of this one. Definitely not for the faint of heart. I'm about halfway through. I can't say that I'd necessarily recommend it, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has read it, and what their thoughts were.

Basically, this kid's mom is a nutcase and his dad is out of the picture. His mom sends him to live with a psychiatrist who already has a bunch of kids of his own. He lets the kids do whatever they want, from food fights to playing with his old electroshock machine to dropping deuces on the kitchen floor. More disturbing than any of this is that the kid is gay and is having an affair with a 33 year old guy who used to live with the doctor. Their relationship started when the guy basically orally raped the kid, which is described in detail. I just got finished with the part where the doctor helps the kid attempt suicide so he won't have to go to school.

Just a disturbing state of affairs all around. I just finished American Psycho (after reading the book, I now dislike the movie, which I used to love), and this one might be even more far out there.

 
shuke said:
kupcho1 said:
Also raced through The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon over the weekend (it's only 152 pages). I don't know why it took me so long to get around to reading it. By far Pynchon's most linearly constructed and accessible book.
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Would you recommend this to someone who had trouble finishing Vineland, but thinks maybe Pynchon deserves another chance?
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Absolutely.From sparknotes.com:

Almost all works by Pynchon are deliberately complex. The plots are often difficult to follow both because of their intricate twists and turns and their sometimes incredibly esoteric subject matter. Pynchon's characters, furthermore, can be hard to relate to. Pynchon has a tendency to fill his novels not with real characters but rather with facades or brief cameo figures that exist in the novel only for some specific purpose, after which they disappear. Indeed, Gravity's Rainbow has over 400 of these types of characters. In The Crying of Lot 49, examples of such characters are Manny di Presso and Jesus Arrabel.

The Crying of Lot 49 is thought by many to be Pynchon's best work. Others surely disagree, arguing that The Crying of Lot 49 is simply Pynchon's most accessible work, its short length and streamlined (for Pynchon) plot allowing the reader to follow along with less work than his longer novels require. But no matter where The Crying of Lot 49 stands within Pynchon's body of work, there is no doubt that in its humor, story, and deep insight into American culture and beyond, the book is an American landmark.
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The Z Machine said:
The Iguana said:
Currently reading Secret Honor by W.E.B. Griffin. 3rd (and last) book in the Honor Bound series.
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Am I the only one that thinks of W.E.B. DuBois when he see's this name?I was all, since when did DuBois write a book called Honor Bound?
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I'm not familiar with Mr. DuBois but Griffin is a good writer if you are into that kind of thing. He is similar to Tom Clancy but most of his stuff has more of a historic spin. The Brotherhood of War series is excellent stuff that follows a group of ficticious army officers through real life events from mid WWII until Vietnam or so. The Honor Bound series is about a OSS officer in South America during WWII. I've also read his first 2 books in the new series, "The Presidential Agent". These are a lot more Clancy like in that they are "current events" oriented with all fictional characters and events. In the others he weaves real life individuals and events in with his fictional world.
 
Finished up Lisey's Story by Stephen King. Best of the King novel since Bag of Bones, IMO.

Currently reading Cadillac Jukebox by James Lee Burke. Really enjoy his style.

Trying to work up the guts to dig into Pynchon's Mason and Dixon. It's been sitting on the shelf for a couple of months. I'll probably start it once I finish with Jukebox.

 
I'm going to try to read the most recent Harry Potter book soon. I meant to read it a while ago, but kept on forgetting.

Also, the Mathematics of Poker by Chen and Ankenman is finally coming out soon (after many delays). I expect to spend quite a lot of time with that when it's available.

 
Borat said:
Anyone read Running with Scissors? I'm working on it right now. It is supposedly a memoir. Pretty disturbing book, though I'm not sure that I'm buying everything that the author/narrator says. They are making a movie out of this one. Definitely not for the faint of heart. I'm about halfway through. I can't say that I'd necessarily recommend it, but I'm just wondering if anyone else has read it, and what their thoughts were.

Basically, this kid's mom is a nutcase and his dad is out of the picture. His mom sends him to live with a psychiatrist who already has a bunch of kids of his own. He lets the kids do whatever they want, from food fights to playing with his old electroshock machine to dropping deuces on the kitchen floor. More disturbing than any of this is that the kid is gay and is having an affair with a 33 year old guy who used to live with the doctor. Their relationship started when the guy basically orally raped the kid, which is described in detail. I just got finished with the part where the doctor helps the kid attempt suicide so he won't have to go to school.

Just a disturbing state of affairs all around. I just finished American Psycho (after reading the book, I now dislike the movie, which I used to love), and this one might be even more far out there.
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Forget about this book. Don't read it. Don't see the movie when it comes out. Far too much of the #### secks. :thumbdown:
 
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell

Started out decent, and then kept getting better the deeper I got. While it's not as good as Cloud Atlas (his debut), it's right on par with Ghostwritten. Excellent book from my favorite author. Highly recommended.

 
igbomb said:
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell

Started out decent, and then kept getting better the deeper I got. While it's not as good as Cloud Atlas (his debut), it's right on par with Ghostwritten. Excellent book from my favorite author. Highly recommended.
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nit... Cloud Atlas was not Mitchell's debut. I think it was his 3rd novel. It is, however, his best.BSG is so time & place dependent, as it is chock-full of cultural references to England in the 80s.

 
oso diablo said:
igbomb said:
Black Swan Green by David Mitchell

Started out decent, and then kept getting better the deeper I got. While it's not as good as Cloud Atlas (his debut), it's right on par with Ghostwritten. Excellent book from my favorite author. Highly recommended.
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nit... Cloud Atlas was not Mitchell's debut. I think it was his 3rd novel. It is, however, his best.BSG is so time & place dependent, as it is chock-full of cultural references to England in the 80s.
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Oops, my mistake. Can't believe I got that wrong. Cloud Atlas is the first of his I read, and definitely his best in my eyes. Must be why I associated it with his first.
 
Just finished 'Memorial Day' by Vince FLynn - what a bad book.

Poor fact checking, flat story/characters and in love with violence as the only solution. I'll steer clear of any further 'thrillers' by him.

:thumbdown:

 
Finished Flags of Our Fathers by James Bradley this weekend. Awesome read but I'm sure most have either already read it or went to the movie.

I recommend his second book as well, Flyboys which tells the story of a group of American airman and their fate in regards to a small island off of Japan, Chi-Chi Jima.

 
Joe Mammy said:
malice said:
Joe Mammy said:
I seem to get stuck on an auther when I find one I really like. I have been devouring the collaboration novels of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - if you like Crichton you'll like these guys. I'm on my seventh straight now, "The Cabinet of Curiosities". Every one of them has been a fast moving page turner with one leading right into the next. Horror mysteries with a tiny bit of supernatural thrown in.
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Been a fan ever since The Relic. Reliquary and Mount Dragon were lesser efforts, but I think they know how to finish a story much better than Crichton.Utopia by Lincoln Child was decent as well, but I haven't read Douglas Preston's solo efforts.

Currently reading: Midnight Mass by F. Paul Wilson. If you remember Stephen King when he could actually stay focused and write a decent story, check out Wilson's books. The Repairman Jack novels are good if you're into series.

On deck: Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. Figured I'd check this out before seeing the Showtime series (although the concept has been done in other shows before).
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I started with The Codex, a Preston solo and then went to the Diogenes trilogy at the recommendation of my librarian starting with Brimstone, Dance with Death and then the current bestseller Book of the Dead. Then I went back to Relic and Reliquary and now Cabinet of Curiosities - I've thoroughly enjoyed them all.Kinda like the X-Files that were not alien related with the hero FBI character "Agent Pendergast" a freaking trip. Reminds me of Robert R. McCammon's early works too...

<pendergast>EXCELLENT</pendergast>
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Just finished Relic last night.Very good book that really went quick. Definitely a 'page-turner.' I think I'll be picking up Reliquary very soon.

My only complaint:

***Slight Spoiler***

I'm not sure I really liked the whole mad scientist ending to the book. I'm guessing it's the jumping off point to the next story, but it just seemed kind of cliched and silly.

 
igbomb said:
Finished up two books this weekend.

Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card

Excellent! I liked this one almost as much as the original. I hope the next one in the series stays similar in style to this one and doesn't bore me like Xenocide and Children of the Mind did.
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The whole series is good.Currently reading Cyptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (Snowcrash fame). He is easily the most imaginative author around right now, IMO. His two big prior books Snowcrash and the The Diamond Age are astoundingly good.

 
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igbomb said:
Joe Mammy said:
malice said:
Joe Mammy said:
I seem to get stuck on an auther when I find one I really like. I have been devouring the collaboration novels of Douglas Preston and Lincoln Child - if you like Crichton you'll like these guys. I'm on my seventh straight now, "The Cabinet of Curiosities". Every one of them has been a fast moving page turner with one leading right into the next. Horror mysteries with a tiny bit of supernatural thrown in.
Click to expand...
Been a fan ever since The Relic. Reliquary and Mount Dragon were lesser efforts, but I think they know how to finish a story much better than Crichton.Utopia by Lincoln Child was decent as well, but I haven't read Douglas Preston's solo efforts.

Currently reading: Midnight Mass by F. Paul Wilson. If you remember Stephen King when he could actually stay focused and write a decent story, check out Wilson's books. The Repairman Jack novels are good if you're into series.

On deck: Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay. Figured I'd check this out before seeing the Showtime series (although the concept has been done in other shows before).
Click to expand...
I started with The Codex, a Preston solo and then went to the Diogenes trilogy at the recommendation of my librarian starting with Brimstone, Dance with Death and then the current bestseller Book of the Dead. Then I went back to Relic and Reliquary and now Cabinet of Curiosities - I've thoroughly enjoyed them all.Kinda like the X-Files that were not alien related with the hero FBI character "Agent Pendergast" a freaking trip. Reminds me of Robert R. McCammon's early works too...

<pendergast>EXCELLENT</pendergast>
Click to expand...
Just finished Relic last night.Very good book that really went quick. Definitely a 'page-turner.' I think I'll be picking up Reliquary very soon.

My only complaint:

***Slight Spoiler***

I'm not sure I really liked the whole mad scientist ending to the book. I'm guessing it's the jumping off point to the next story, but it just seemed kind of cliched and silly.
Click to expand...
I'll take the ending to Relic the book over Relic the movie anyday. Reliquary didn't do much for me. I'd recommend Riptide or the Ice Limit instead if you haven't read those yet.
 
Sand said:
igbomb said:
Finished up two books this weekend.

Ender's Shadow by Orson Scott Card

Excellent! I liked this one almost as much as the original. I hope the next one in the series stays similar in style to this one and doesn't bore me like Xenocide and Children of the Mind did.
Click to expand...
The whole series is good.Currently reading Cyptonomicon by Neal Stephenson (Snowcrash fame). He is easily the most imaginative author around right now, IMO. His two big prior books Snowcrash and the The Diamond Age are astoundingly good.
Click to expand...
when you are done with Cryptonomicon - move onto Quicksilver, The Confusion and The System of the World - the sort of connected trilogiAll four are excellent!

 
I know theres lots of Pynchon readers on this board. Im thinking of picking up Gravitys rainbow. Any thoughts on this? Worth a read?

 
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