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Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (5 Viewers)
- Thread starter shuke
- Start date
BlackMagic10
Footballguy
igbomb
Footballguy
Novel: The Stand - I think I've read it about 4-5 times now.Collection: The Bachman Books - Not short stories, but The Long Walk is the best work of King's I've ever readMacArtist said:igbomb said:So far, which one would you say has been your favorite book?
I didn't particularly enjoy The Gunslinger either, but I plan on re-reading it just before I read the second Dark Tower book.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
Best: Dark Tower series, The Shining, The Stand, It, The Long Walk, The Talisman.Worst: From a Buick 8, The Tommyknockers, The Dark Half (although I'm not giving up on it)
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harrycarey
Footballguy
So the Dark Tower series and The Gunslinger series are the same thing? And thanks to everyone for their input. Sounds like The Stand will be my next King book and then I'll start the series
Darth Cheney
Footballguy
I think that Salem's Lost is his best book and perhaps the perfect vampire story.
simsarge
Footballguy
Easily the scariest damn book i've ever read. Anyone into audiobooks?Darth Cheney said:
10 hour-a-day job and 2 little ones doesn't leave much for other than recorded books via commute. Listening to an Audiobook ("Podiobook") called Crescent by Phil Rossi. Excellent story. The web site has a review that calls it Blade Runner written by HP Lovecraft. Fits it pretty good.
RC94
Footballguy
Has anyone read "Raptor Red" by Robert Bakker? Looks interesting.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor_Red
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Raptor_Red
Tough As Nails
Glave Master
Just finished City of Thieves by David Benioff. Definitely recommended. It's about a boy and a soldier that are forced to become friends in WWII Russia. If you know even a little bit about the horrific nature of the fighting/surviving that went on...you'll be really interested in the details. If you don't know anything going in, it's a great way to get an overview of what kinds of things were really going on in the Eastern front of that war.
Very well written. It's about 250 pages, but you'll swear it's only about 100 because it flies by so fast and reads so easily. The last 5 pages left a little to be desired...but it's a minor complaint.
Very well written. It's about 250 pages, but you'll swear it's only about 100 because it flies by so fast and reads so easily. The last 5 pages left a little to be desired...but it's a minor complaint.
pantagrapher
Footballguy
About 3/4 finished and really enjoying it.
Man in the yellow hat
Footballguy
Cunk
Footballguy
Reading Ball Four right now an am really enjoying it. Just got done with Stolen Season and loved it. Oh and Satchel was great as well.
mon
(T)ool
Almost finished with The Corrections by Jonathan Franzen. Exactly my kind of fiction, which is to say it is about human nature, depressing (as reality often is), and brilliantly written. Franzen follows a family, relaying their lives in minute detail. In doing so, he reveals great insight into why they are the way they are, why they do the things they do. It's the book I've always wanted to write.
igbomb
Footballguy
Since Pillars of the Earth seems to be a fairly popular book in this thread, I thought I would share a couple of news items about Follett that I came across this morning.
First, Pillars of the Earth has been filmed as an eight hour mini-series. They are now in post-production and it should premiere some time in the second half of this year. No indication of a U.S. broadcast partner yet, but definitely something I'll have to keep an eye out for. I'm always happy when a big book is turned into a mini-series over trying to cram it down into a two-hour movie (The Count of Monte Cristo).
Second, Follett has a new trilogy in the works with the first volume due out in September and the second and third books coming out in 2012 and 2014. The first volume is called Fall of Giants and follows five families from around the globe through WWI and the Russian Revolution. The second book will focus on the same families and the Great Depression and WWII. And the third book will be about the Cold War.
First, Pillars of the Earth has been filmed as an eight hour mini-series. They are now in post-production and it should premiere some time in the second half of this year. No indication of a U.S. broadcast partner yet, but definitely something I'll have to keep an eye out for. I'm always happy when a big book is turned into a mini-series over trying to cram it down into a two-hour movie (The Count of Monte Cristo).
Second, Follett has a new trilogy in the works with the first volume due out in September and the second and third books coming out in 2012 and 2014. The first volume is called Fall of Giants and follows five families from around the globe through WWI and the Russian Revolution. The second book will focus on the same families and the Great Depression and WWII. And the third book will be about the Cold War.
ODoyleRules
Footballguy
How is this? is it comparable to any other books you've read in the genre?
bigbottom
Footballguy
Thinner was a great book.
Man in the yellow hat
Footballguy
Well, I was really pumped to get going on it. It came highly recommended. However, I'm now about 3/4 through it and losing steam.He cites some great studies and gives some very good insight into the human mind. However, he seems to beat some points into the ground at times, which has slowed my interest a bit.
Overall, it's a good read. He brings up some interesting stories and examples from the sports world, and poker world.
Up next for me is: How the Mind Works by Steven Pinker.
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ODoyleRules
Footballguy
cool. I'll check it out. I found Pinker books more thorough and detailed but also less user-friendly (i.e. written more like a scientist, less like a novelist).
D_House
Footballguy
This was a NY Times book of the year, but I can't recommend it. The pace is glacial and repetitive, and Pamuk's protagonist is unsympathetic and uninteresting. There's some interesting insight into current events in Turkey and the East-West conflict in general, but it's not worth trudging through the story for.
ConstruxBoy
Kate's Daddy
Started reading this series after I got hooked on the tv show "Legend of the Seeker" that is based on these books. 1st one was okay, I think I would have liked it better had I not seen the 1st season of the show and already knew most of the plot. The 2nd book was outstanding and the 3rd was a decent followup if a bit short and abruptly ended. Look forward to reading the rest.For a fantasy/adventure series, I'm surprised how grown up the books are. Goodkind doesn't pull his punches in the descriptions of battles or sex. In the 2nd book there is a whole chapter devoted to the discovery of the aftermath of a city that fell to a siege. Decapitated bodies everywhere, women raped, some disturbing imagery.
~~~~~
Finished off "New Moon," the 2nd in the Twillight series on a flight home this past weekend. I still don't get what people (ie, women) see in these books. The first hundred and last 50 pages were absolute torture reading about some girl feeling like she's dead on the inside and how horrible and empty her life is after her vampire boyfriend dumps her. Only reason I finished it was because I had nothing else to read. Surprisingly, the middle part of the book wasn't half bad, there was just no payoff at the end.
JFT Ben
Footballguy
I just finished Beat the Reaper by Josh Bazell based on recommendations here. Great book, fast paced, as someone on Amazon said like 'House' meets 'The Sopranos'. The last book I enjoyed that much was Battle Royale.
I'm about to start the last of the Dexter book series. If you enjoy the Showtime series, I recommend the books. I think they're good, not great, but a fun and easy read. It usually only takes me a couple nights to finish each one.
I'm about to start the last of the Dexter book series. If you enjoy the Showtime series, I recommend the books. I think they're good, not great, but a fun and easy read. It usually only takes me a couple nights to finish each one.
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Top 10 of the decade for me. I agree with what you wrote, but you forgot to mention how damned funny it is at times. I was damned near crying at times it was so funny.
kupcho1
Footballguy
Verdict?I liked it. Nowhere near as good as Sotweed, but I appreciated what he was going for.
Just about finished with A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man.
pantagrapher
Footballguy
Just got back into it today after putting it down for about a week. So far so good. Very dense—like Sot-Weed—which makes the fact that I'm reading it mostly on the train less than ideal. I'm going to miss a lot of nuance, but I'll plow forward nonetheless.Unrelated:
I finished The History of Love and really enjoyed it. I had some problems with it toward the end, but was able to enjoy it for what it was. I thought the final pages were very nicely handled.
The_Man
Footballguy
I liked How We Decide a lot. It's like Malcolm Gladwell, except a little more rooted in science and a little less quick to make sweeping societal generalizations based on small studies and one or two anecdotal examples. Though I liked Outliers a lot, as well.My favorite thing in How We Decide was the part discussing that people think they carefully weigh all the evidence on both sides of a question before making an informed, unbiased decision. In fact, they usually come to an immediate snap judgment, and subsequently disregard evidence contrary to their pre-formed opinion while embracing evidence that supports it. That one chapter has saved me hours of aggravation in the political threads here and in discussions with other people (especially my family) -- It made me understand that no amount of arguing is going to make me accept the arguments/evidence presented by people whose views are contrary to my own, just as they aren't going to accept the case I make in support of my views. So why bother?
It also made me much more aware of the power of "Free" to get people to do things they're not really interested in, and to buy stuff they don't really want. Turns out people will do all kinds of things contrary to their own self-interest, as long as they perceive they're getting something for nothing.
Couldn't get through this one. I enjoyed parts but didn't think it was worth the effort to try to keep track of all the characters. Especially when so many characters had the same name as other's.
mon
(T)ool
Ditto for me -- read about 80 pages then quit. I didn't care for the writing style. I loved the story, though.
Abraham
Footballguy
Read this one at my GB Cosjobs suggestion. Very good - his style takes liberally from Chuck Pahlunizaiakaisik (sp), but it was well worth the read. I didn't find it as deep as "House" meets "Sopranos" simply because its about a doctor/mob hitman. It actually came across to me - via footnotes and leaving out big chunks of detail - like a hostile version of Dave Eggers "A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius." But a very good read nonetheless.Just finished Superfreakenomics. Good, but not great. Ends abruptly. But it was worth reading.Reading Bill SImmons "Book of Basketball" right now. a great read for fans of basketball or Simmons.Hoping to get to "Ham on Rye" or "Blood Meridian" after I'm done with Simmons.
D_House
Footballguy
This was great. Reminded me a bit of Nabokov with the unreliable narrator and shifts in time. I'd recommend it if you like reading the 'classics'.Now reading A Scanner Darkly by Philip K. **** while on the bus and A People's History of the USA by the late Howard Zinn at home.
Chadstroma
Footballguy
Waterloo by Andrew Roberts
beer 30
Footballguy
With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa by E.B. Sledge.
Just started the invasion of Peleliu. If I had the time I would finish it in a day, great read so far. May knock it out this weekend.
Just started the invasion of Peleliu. If I had the time I would finish it in a day, great read so far. May knock it out this weekend.
badmojo1006
Footballguy
Just Finished "The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo". Interesting book and I can't believe the grandfather, the patriarch of the family, did not know what was going on
palmerville
Footballguy
Slog indeed. Would benefit from a decent editor. It was the first King book I've read in 15 years, picked it up from a recommendation on here. The story was fine, spoon feeding it to me was disappointing. The guy is a master story teller and created some great characters in this book but when he treats the reader like they are 12 it's a little off-putting. Probably take another 15 year break from King.
igbomb
Footballguy
Finished Without Remorse by Tom Clancy, chronogically the first book in the Jack Ryan series. Ryan's not actually in the book, though his dad is. It's actually the story of John Kelly, aka Mr. Clark. Good, though a little long at 750 pages.
Started Memorial Day by Vince Flynn and bailed on it. I'm okay with serial type novels, but there has to be some long-term character development, of which Flynn has none. Also, I've been able to overlook his politics before, but not anymore. He seems to be beating the reader over the head with his rhetoric a lot more as the series goes on.
Just started Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. Too early to form an opinion on it, though I've heard it's more gimmicky than substantive. That makes me a little apprehensive.
Started Memorial Day by Vince Flynn and bailed on it. I'm okay with serial type novels, but there has to be some long-term character development, of which Flynn has none. Also, I've been able to overlook his politics before, but not anymore. He seems to be beating the reader over the head with his rhetoric a lot more as the series goes on.
Just started Everything is Illuminated by Jonathan Safran Foer. Too early to form an opinion on it, though I've heard it's more gimmicky than substantive. That makes me a little apprehensive.
Chigurh
Footballguy
Those people you've heard that from are idiots.
ShaqAttaq
Morally Ambiguous
i'm about 70% through Game Change. i enjoy the dirt and insight about the politicians, but am a little bored by the minutiae of individual primaries and events.
shuke
Black Ice Skeptic
I couldn't get through two pages of this a night before falling asleep. This read like an early, raw work by Koontz or Lansdale. Which is surprising, since King wrote this in '89. 2/10.Just started Snuff by Chuck Palahniuk. Great stuff, as always.
igbomb
Footballguy
Bailed on this one until the weekend. It's clear that it's a book that requires more than the 15-30 minutes I get to read each night during the week. In the meantime, I picked up A Drink Before the War by Dennis Lehane. I'm about 100 pages in and really liking it. And having read several reviews that call this his weakest work, I think I'm going to read a lot of Lehane.
ODoyleRules
Footballguy
I have about 30 hours of travel time next week and could use suggestions on something I could pick up from the library that is fluffy, no-brainer page turner type book. Grisham, Patterson and Crichton would be similar authors. No sci-fi or fantasy please.
kupcho1
Footballguy
bigbottom
Footballguy
Lots of ideas for you in this thread if you take the time to go through it. Beat the Reaper is a fun, easy read.
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
Do you need to read the source novels first to get into this one?
kupcho1
Footballguy
I don't think so; Shadow Country is comprised of the source novels. From what I understand, a bit of rework was done, but this is the trilogy.Do you need to read the source novels first to get into this one?
ODoyleRules
Footballguy
Who's got time to read though? Seriously, I went through the last 5 pages and didn't see anything that met my criteria and I figured that 5 pages was a reasonable sample of the rest of the thread. I read Beat the Reaper several weeks ago and thought it was good.bigbottom said:
I also looked at the Best of the Decade thread and most of it was heavy stuff. I've got enough books that require thinking, I was looking for something light.
