Completely IMO, of course, but I also through To Kill a Mockingbird was a spectacular book. Grapes of Wrath, however, was the worst piece of dreck I was ever forced to read. Steinbeck was a pretentious ###.Added to my list. That's an ambitious comparison. To Kill a Mockingbird is perhaps the great American novel and Grapes of Wrath is amazing in its own right. If this is even on the same playing field as those two I'm sure I'll be more than pleased.The Heart is a Lonely Hunter wears really fantastic. I always avoided it assuming it was some kind of love story, but that couldn't be further from the case. Think To Kill a Mockingbird meets Grapes of Wrath. Poor Southern town, lots of lost souls struggling through a rough life, all tied together through a friendship with a deaf mute.
It's more TKAM in style. There are a lot of elements of Marxism and the plight of the poor, but in general those characters that have that agenda don't get painted in anywhere near the same way that Steinbeck did. Steinbeck famously wanted to write a book that would shame the wealthy. Not a chance Carson McCullers ever had that thought. She was more concerned with people and their search for meaning than political motives. The main character that does have a Socialist agenda and gives some speeches is a pathetic person that seems unable to even understand what exactly it is he is trying to get people to believe or do.Completely IMO, of course, but I also through To Kill a Mockingbird was a spectacular book. Grapes of Wrath, however, was the worst piece of dreck I was ever forced to read. Steinbeck was a pretentious ###.Added to my list. That's an ambitious comparison. To Kill a Mockingbird is perhaps the great American novel and Grapes of Wrath is amazing in its own right. If this is even on the same playing field as those two I'm sure I'll be more than pleased.The Heart is a Lonely Hunter wears really fantastic. I always avoided it assuming it was some kind of love story, but that couldn't be further from the case. Think To Kill a Mockingbird meets Grapes of Wrath. Poor Southern town, lots of lost souls struggling through a rough life, all tied together through a friendship with a deaf mute.
So I'd be split on this recommendation.![]()
Yep, felt like it was a very strong effort from King. I liked the whole thing.So did you finish it ? What did you think of it and the finish ?Currently reading Mr. Mercedes by Stephen King. I'm about half-way through, and I like it. It's a little different from his normal "horror" stuff...in fact I'd say it's more detective/crime. But if he can finish it strongly (always a big if with King) it will stack up nicely with the latter half of his work.
I liked it start to finish. Good Read !
Highly recommend this one. The ending is a bit underwhelming but it's the intro to a trilogy so he definitely left room to continue the story.Gave up on Zone One. Pretentious crap.
Nearly through Niceville by Carsten Stroud. Really good, intriguing, creepy mystery/horror/adventure. Kind of reminds me of Peter Straub.
Yeah its dragging a bit. About 60 pages left. Overall its been good tho.Loved that book. It is about 200 +/- pages too long IMO, but still great.Started Shantaram last night. 35 pages down only 900something left.
100 books in one year? So no more posting here huh.For the next year, in order to celebrate my upcoming 50th birthday, I am re-reading my 100 favorite books of all time. Currently on The Stand. Next up after that is Lies My Teacher Taught Me. Then Hart's War.
However long it takes me. About 2 years, I'd guess.NetnautX said:100 books in one year? So no more posting here huh.timschochet said:For the next year, in order to celebrate my upcoming 50th birthday, I am re-reading my 100 favorite books of all time. Currently on The Stand. Next up after that is Lies My Teacher Taught Me. Then Hart's War.
The film rights have been optioned. This is going to be a movie. (I understand that's kind of rare for a novelist's first book so soon after its release.)I just read Doing Harm. The author, Kelly Parsons, is a friend of mine from high school. He's always been really freaking smart, so I figured his first book, if nothing else, would be extremely well written. It is. It's also quite the page-turner. It's a medical thriller by a urologist who teaches surgery at UCSD med school, so he knows what he's writing about. His next book (already written and sold) is also a medical thriller, but I get the feeling that Kelly could write a riveting book in any genre he chose. He's got a pretty great day job, but he's a natural writer and I'd be a little surprised if he's not a full-time novelist within a few years. In any case, putting aside my bias as best I can, I recommend the book heartily.
Totally cool that he got the option, but only about .01% of books/life story rights that are optioned actually become movies (probably less, but I was trying to quantify it). It is a long laborious process to develop from book to film option to actual movie.The film rights have been optioned. This is going to be a movie. (I understand that's kind of rare for a novelist's first book so soon after its release.)I just read Doing Harm. The author, Kelly Parsons, is a friend of mine from high school. He's always been really freaking smart, so I figured his first book, if nothing else, would be extremely well written. It is. It's also quite the page-turner. It's a medical thriller by a urologist who teaches surgery at UCSD med school, so he knows what he's writing about. His next book (already written and sold) is also a medical thriller, but I get the feeling that Kelly could write a riveting book in any genre he chose. He's got a pretty great day job, but he's a natural writer and I'd be a little surprised if he's not a full-time novelist within a few years. In any case, putting aside my bias as best I can, I recommend the book heartily.
I think I misunderstood the announcement. I knew that he'd already sold the film rights before the book was published. So I figured the recent news (in which "optioned" was used as a verb) meant that the studio had exercised the option. That seems to be wrong. I guess he sold the film rights to the publisher, not to the studio, and now the studio has purchased an option from the publisher. So yeah, not as close to being a movie as I'd thought.Totally cool that he got the option, but only about .01% of books/life story rights that are optioned actually become movies (probably less, but I was trying to quantify it). It is a long laborious process to develop from book to film option to actual movie.The film rights have been optioned. This is going to be a movie. (I understand that's kind of rare for a novelist's first book so soon after its release.)I just read Doing Harm. The author, Kelly Parsons, is a friend of mine from high school. He's always been really freaking smart, so I figured his first book, if nothing else, would be extremely well written. It is. It's also quite the page-turner. It's a medical thriller by a urologist who teaches surgery at UCSD med school, so he knows what he's writing about. His next book (already written and sold) is also a medical thriller, but I get the feeling that Kelly could write a riveting book in any genre he chose. He's got a pretty great day job, but he's a natural writer and I'd be a little surprised if he's not a full-time novelist within a few years. In any case, putting aside my bias as best I can, I recommend the book heartily.
Cant wait to read that. Sitting in my massive stack of "to read" books.I just finished We by Yevgeny Zamyatin. You can see the influence it had on 1984 which was written a generation later.
http://www.amazon.com/Modern-Library-Classics-Yevgeny-Zamyatin-ebook/dp/B0012E3J2O/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1408278576&sr=8-3&keywords=we
I liked The Heart is a Lonely Hunter but it dragged a bit at the end.The Heart is a Lonely Hunter wears really fantastic. I always avoided it assuming it was some kind of love story, but that couldn't be further from the case. Think To Kill a Mockingbird meets Grapes of Wrath. Poor Southern town, lots of lost souls struggling through a rough life, all tied together through a friendship with a deaf mute.
I read this and thought it was pretty good.The film rights have been optioned. This is going to be a movie. (I understand that's kind of rare for a novelist's first book so soon after its release.)I just read Doing Harm. The author, Kelly Parsons, is a friend of mine from high school. He's always been really freaking smart, so I figured his first book, if nothing else, would be extremely well written. It is. It's also quite the page-turner. It's a medical thriller by a urologist who teaches surgery at UCSD med school, so he knows what he's writing about. His next book (already written and sold) is also a medical thriller, but I get the feeling that Kelly could write a riveting book in any genre he chose. He's got a pretty great day job, but he's a natural writer and I'd be a little surprised if he's not a full-time novelist within a few years. In any case, putting aside my bias as best I can, I recommend the book heartily.
I searched this forum for 'Jorg' and was disappointed. Go read Mark Lawrence's Broken Empire Trilogy if you like some fantasy, dark themes and morally ambiguous characters.
Probably my favorite **** bookCurrently reading The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. ****.
Probably my favorite **** bookCurrently reading The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. ****.
Something Happened was great (read it 5-6 years ago?). What did you think?Finished Something Happened, now reading Revolutionary Road...not sure what it says about me that I am stuck on mid century novels filled with unhappy marriages and unhappy drunks.
It was ok. I thought it dragged a bit and was repetitive. Catch 22 is probably my favorite novel so maybe my hopes were too high, but I was underwhelmed.Something Happened was great (read it 5-6 years ago?). What did you think?Finished Something Happened, now reading Revolutionary Road...not sure what it says about me that I am stuck on mid century novels filled with unhappy marriages and unhappy drunks.
I'd be interested in your top 100 list.For the next year, in order to celebrate my upcoming 50th birthday, I am re-reading my 100 favorite books of all time. Currently on The Stand. Next up after that is Lies My Teacher Taught Me. Then Hart's War.
Seconded.I'd be interested in your top 100 list.For the next year, in order to celebrate my upcoming 50th birthday, I am re-reading my 100 favorite books of all time. Currently on The Stand. Next up after that is Lies My Teacher Taught Me. Then Hart's War.
Recently read-
First Fifteen Lives of Harry August by Claire North - Harry August is one of a group of people that when they die they are reborn and start over again in the exact life they had before, except now they can remember everything from their previous life, and from multiple previous lives depending on how many times they've died. Excellent read with some existential questions.
Close to finishing up Hampton Sides' "In the Kingdom of Ice" about the arctic expedition by the USS Jeanette and George de Long. (Sides is most well-known for "Ghost Soldiers"). A lot of interesting details about the prevailing arctic theories at the time that led to the pretty foolhardy quest (the idea was that there was a warm water current causing an open sea at the North Pole, so you could reach it by boat, and that Greenland extended to near Siberia). Don't want to give too many details away, but, as you might expect, things go terribly wrong.
Good read about what is now a little known expedition.
Interesting, I liked Something Happened better than Catch 22. I think some of this is just based on at which point in your life you come to these books.It was ok. I thought it dragged a bit and was repetitive. Catch 22 is probably my favorite novel so maybe my hopes were too high, but I was underwhelmed.Something Happened was great (read it 5-6 years ago?). What did you think?Finished Something Happened, now reading Revolutionary Road...not sure what it says about me that I am stuck on mid century novels filled with unhappy marriages and unhappy drunks.
I liked Brilliance a lot, also the second book of the saga A Better World was at the same level and I recommend bothRecently finished Brilliance by Markus Sakey: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AESRRQS
Very good,4 out of 5. There is a predictable twist, but the writing is excellent and characters are good and engaging. First in a trilogy, highly recommended.
Now reading The Prophet by Michael Koryta. It's decent, not special.
It was a hard decision,KarmaPolice said:cosjobs said:Probably my favorite **** bookCurrently reading The Man in the High Castle by Philip K. ****.![]()
I have not, but Mr. krista has and says none really worth reading. :(Have you read any other of Heller's books? If so, anything else worth checking out?
Yeah, that general thought about his work is what lead me to waiting so long to read Something Happened.I have not, but Mr. krista has and says none really worth reading. :(Have you read any other of Heller's books? If so, anything else worth checking out?
But are there any Draco/Ron smut scenes?I just caught up to the author of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It's not J.K. Rowling; it's fan-fic by Eliezer Yudkowsky, and he's posting the chapters as he writes them. Here's up through chapter 102 as an epub, mobi, or pdf.
I really dig this book. It's an alternate-universe version of Harry Potter, using Rowling's characters and settings, but telling a different story in a different way. As in the original, Potter was raised by Muggle parents after his biological parents were murdered by Voldemort (I hope I'm not giving too much away). But unlike the original, these Muggle parents were supportive professor-types who instilled a bunch of Muggle book-learnin' into Harry. When Harry reaches Hogwarts, it's his intelligence, knowledge, and rationality that set him apart from the other wizards. He approaches magic using the scientific method, which can be confusing and frustrating for him since magic often seems to defy that sort of investigation. But as he perseveres... the reader identifies with Potter, and the author makes Potter say and do really smart things, and thus the reader gets to feel really smart, which is a lot of fun.
I'm disappointed that there's no more of it to read right now, and I look forward to the next installments very much. (Rowling herself is also reportedly a fan.)
(A review, of sorts, here.)
Ron's barely in it, but Harry/Draco and Harry/Snape possibilities have been discussed.But are there any Draco/Ron smut scenes?I just caught up to the author of Harry Potter and the Methods of Rationality. It's not J.K. Rowling; it's fan-fic by Eliezer Yudkowsky, and he's posting the chapters as he writes them. Here's up through chapter 102 as an epub, mobi, or pdf.
I really dig this book. It's an alternate-universe version of Harry Potter, using Rowling's characters and settings, but telling a different story in a different way. As in the original, Potter was raised by Muggle parents after his biological parents were murdered by Voldemort (I hope I'm not giving too much away). But unlike the original, these Muggle parents were supportive professor-types who instilled a bunch of Muggle book-learnin' into Harry. When Harry reaches Hogwarts, it's his intelligence, knowledge, and rationality that set him apart from the other wizards. He approaches magic using the scientific method, which can be confusing and frustrating for him since magic often seems to defy that sort of investigation. But as he perseveres... the reader identifies with Potter, and the author makes Potter say and do really smart things, and thus the reader gets to feel really smart, which is a lot of fun.
I'm disappointed that there's no more of it to read right now, and I look forward to the next installments very much. (Rowling herself is also reportedly a fan.)
(A review, of sorts, here.)
Recently finished Brilliance by Markus Sakey: http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B00AESRRQS
Very good,4 out of 5. There is a predictable twist, but the writing is excellent and characters are good and engaging. First in a trilogy, highly recommended.
Based on your preferences, I doubt it will be much to your taste, as it's filled with popular novels. But since you asked, here they are, in the order they were written (not in the order I'm reading them this year.):I'd be interested in your top 100 list.For the next year, in order to celebrate my upcoming 50th birthday, I am re-reading my 100 favorite books of all time. Currently on The Stand. Next up after that is Lies My Teacher Taught Me. Then Hart's War.
I like some popular fiction. The above four are among my favorite books, too.Based on your preferences, I doubt it will be much to your taste, as it's filled with popular novels. But since you asked, here they are, in the order they were written (not in the order I'm reading them this year.):I'd be interested in your top 100 list.For the next year, in order to celebrate my upcoming 50th birthday, I am re-reading my 100 favorite books of all time. Currently on The Stand. Next up after that is Lies My Teacher Taught Me. Then Hart's War.
- [SIZE=medium]The Bonfire of the Vanities[/SIZE] by Tom Wolfe
- [SIZE=medium]She’s Come Undone[/SIZE] by Wally Lamb
- [SIZE=medium]Beach Music[/SIZE] by Pat Conroy
- [SIZE=medium]I Know This Much Is True[/SIZE] by Wally Lamb