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Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (9 Viewers)

Justloveit said:
Hey guys,

I'm a big fan of Michael Crichton's earlier works. Can someone recommend some authors that are similar to him in style and genre?
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Try The Deus Machine by Pierre Ouellette (1998)
From Publishers Weekly

In the year 2005, in the midst of an unprecedented economic depression that has ruined the country and brought the government to the edge of collapse, a renegade genius programs a supercomputer with an artificial intelligence (DEUS) that perpetually reinvents itself--and thereby comes "to life." But when crooked government insiders intent on making profits through chemical warfare use DEUS for their research, the machine, attempting suicide, spawns an unbelievably terrifying array of mutant life forms that begin to run wild over the earth. It's then up to an unlikely threesome--computer programmer Michael Riley, his lover, biomedical engineer Jessica and their young friend Jimi--to save DEUS (and the world) from the bloodthirsty and perpetually mutating horde. This first novel by an advertising executive reads like a glossy repackaging of contemporary action-adventure movies ( Terminator ) with video games ( Space Invaders ) and '50s sci-fi ( Them! ). There's no mistaking the good guys (man, woman and child) from the bad (homicidal pederast who makes his money in germ warfare). Still, the somber, apocalyptic atmosphere, sensational prose and intensely visual imagery are bound to appeal to science fiction and fantasy fans, particularly those who don't necessarily mind watching a rerun if it's worth a good scare.

Copyright 1993 Reed Business Information, Inc.

From Booklist

Machine intelligence/consciousness and its interface with humanity form the central theme in Ouellette's first novel. The trappings of an honest intellectual exercise on the future of the computer are present here within the context of an espionage/adventure tale. Brought to life and then subverted by corporate and political interests, the supercomputer Deus struggles with its ever-growing sense of ethics, which points toward self-annihilation as the only viable course of action. The equation is altered by the creation of another rapidly evolving machine-based intellect that develops a human-oriented value system built upon relationships between a computer wizard, his lover, and a small boy. Well-rounded characters and a lively story make this high-tech thriller a first choice for any fiction collection. Elliott Swanson
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The thing I remember most about this book (and I read it shortly after it came out) was the description of a particular recreational drug. Specifically, that the creators of this drug intentionally made it more difficult to use than it needed to be in order to instill a ritualistic aspect to it, which somehow made it more addictive.
 
Finished Cat's Cradle. After I did I actually went back and read most of the first half again. Once I got to the end I realized that my initial feelings on the story were misplaced and I'm glad that I read the whole thing. The ending was about as satisfying as I can envision to any book being.

Not only that, but the conclusion, if you will, of the lesson of the religion - while pretty much slammed over your head the entire book - was brilliant. In the final 20 or so chapters he managed to turn what I thought was a rather unimpressive book into one of the best I've ever read. This was definately better then Breakfast of Champions.

And as I was going through the first half again and seeing again what was set before me I am very close to convincing myself that it was better then Slaughterhouse Five. Great great read.

I have to check my list to see what I should look at next.

 
Just finishing up Radio, Radio, which I'm sure no one here has heard of. It's a little book a friend of mine self published. It's a nice easy read available at www.ianshane.com.

After I finish that, I'm off to The Blind Watchmaker, which I've been meaning to read for years.

 
flysack said:
Facecow said:
Finished "American Psycho" a few weeks back and it's still on my mind. I couldn't bring myself to fully read some parts but I think I enjoyed it.
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This has only happened to me in two scenes in two separate books -1. The nose job scene in Thomas Pynchon's V.. The crazy part is it's written with high comedy and excruciatingly precise medical detail. It turns your stomach while also trying to make you laugh. I trudged through it, but I felt like throwing up.

2. The scene in the Marquis De Sade's Justine, when a group of libertine monks rapes several nuns. I got to the part where they suspend a pregnant nun over a small flame (if she slips, she gets burned), and proceed to violate her with various objects. Couldn't trudge through that. The Marquis won. I flipped pages and never looked back.

I guess I have an iron stomach/mind when it comes to fiction, because I never understood the uproar over Ellis' American Psycho. Was it graphic at points? Yes. But the author's satirical stance was always clear to me, so I was never turned off by it. The pathos of the narrator (unconscious to him) was always 'there' for me.
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Hey, everything was going along smoothly and then Patrick Bateman had to go and get himself a hungry rat. That's when things got difficult. :X

 
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Re-reading two of Larry Niven's books, with whom he collaborated with Jerry Pournelle (which he also did on Lucifer's Hammer and Footfall), The Legacy of Heorot and Beowulf's Children. I know he's a great sci-fi writer but his best trait is how he incorporates normal people and their reactions to new situations.

 
Currently waiting for my library to hook me up with 100 Years of Solitude, Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy and Welcome to the Monkey House so that I can keep working the list.

So I grabbed Dune by Frank Herbert (I usually really hate reading the book after seeing the movie, but I figured why not) and also grabbed Vonnegut's Timequake, which wasn't on the top 100 list but I saw it and he's 2 for 3 with me so I figured why not again.

 
Justloveit said:
How about some books with incredible endings/twists?
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The Wasp Factory by Iain Banks Psycho by Robert BlochEnder's Game by Orson Scott CardDark Tower series by Stephen KingShutter Island by Dennis Lehane Burnt Offerings by Robert MarascoBlood Meridian by Cormac McCarthyFight Club by Chuck Palahniuk
 
Lost in planet China - good travelogue of a guy working his way around China (primarily on his own ...pretty cool, if you want to know more about what its really like there these days.)

 
The Year We Disappeared: A Father-Daughter Memoir, by Cylin Busby and John Busby

Before August 31, 1979, nine-year-old Cylin’s biggest worry was avoiding her grumpy neighbor. Then her family’s life changed forever when her father, a Cape Cod policeman, was shot on his drive to work. Horribly injured, with most of his lower jaw blown away, John Busby somehow managed to stop his car and run for help. Although John was convinced he knew his attacker’s identity, the investigation mysteriously stalled, and the Busby family was given 24-hour protection during the long experimental effort to reconstruct John’s face. Eventually the family went into hiding, starting over in another state. In alternating chapters, John and Cylin Busby tell the story of John’s ordeal and the devastating impact on his family. John’s laconic, just-the-facts-ma’am style underscores the horror he was enduring, while Cylin’s perspective drives home the fear and emotional misery the family suffered. The appalling physical injuries may deter the squeamish, but this riveting story will stay with readers, particularly its message that John’s anger and desire for revenge were the hardest wounds to heal.
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True story, and easily the most emotionally jarring book that I've ever read. The father and daughter alternate writing the chapters, with the daughter giving her side of the story (more emotional and from the eyes of a child) and then the father giving his side (a bit more dry and from the perspective of a father/cop/shooting victim). It's a very quick read (realistically, it's probably about 7th or 8th grade reading level), but it's quite a story. This one was passed around my family and everyone blew right through it in a matter of a few days. I would definitely recommend it for anyone from the New England area in particular, as the book takes place on Cape Cod.
 
Facecow said:
flysack said:
Facecow said:
Finished "American Psycho" a few weeks back and it's still on my mind. I couldn't bring myself to fully read some parts but I think I enjoyed it.
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This has only happened to me in two scenes in two separate books -1. The nose job scene in Thomas Pynchon's V.. The crazy part is it's written with high comedy and excruciatingly precise medical detail. It turns your stomach while also trying to make you laugh. I trudged through it, but I felt like throwing up.

2. The scene in the Marquis De Sade's Justine, when a group of libertine monks rapes several nuns. I got to the part where they suspend a pregnant nun over a small flame (if she slips, she gets burned), and proceed to violate her with various objects. Couldn't trudge through that. The Marquis won. I flipped pages and never looked back.

I guess I have an iron stomach/mind when it comes to fiction, because I never understood the uproar over Ellis' American Psycho. Was it graphic at points? Yes. But the author's satirical stance was always clear to me, so I was never turned off by it. The pathos of the narrator (unconscious to him) was always 'there' for me.
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Hey, everything was going along smoothly and then Patrick Bateman had to go and get himself a hungry rat. That's when things got difficult. :goodposting:
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Yeah, that was pretty terrible.I also recently finished "The Rules of Attraction," also by Bret Easton Ellis. Gay sex abounds, but it was interesting, and there were some parts that were LOL funny.

 
Yankee23Fan said:
Currently waiting for my library to hook me up with 100 Years of Solitude, Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy and Welcome to the Monkey House so that I can keep working the list.So I grabbed Dune by Frank Herbert (I usually really hate reading the book after seeing the movie, but I figured why not) and also grabbed Vonnegut's Timequake, which wasn't on the top 100 list but I saw it and he's 2 for 3 with me so I figured why not again.
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I've read Hitchhiker's Guide and LOVE IT!I'm like 2/3 of the way through the third (fourth?) of the five... I pick it up occasionally 'cuz, well, it isn't as gripping as it was at the beginning, but its just as funny...I've read Dune like 5 times... awesome book...I also finished I Am Legend... It was good, I really liked the ending, it was infinitely better than the book...Not sure where to go next, have a couple books laying around that I need to start, but keep putting off...
 
Finished up Dune over the weekend. It was a very entertaining book, although having seen the movie I think I lost some of the books power. I kept focusing on how this part or tha part was in the movie or what was missing and how the movie could have been better with some of the stuff it left out. Overall it was a solid work though that my own inability to separate from the movie did a disservice to. I may be interested in reading the follow ups there after I knock out more of the list.

Moved on to Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy and am almost done with it. This isn't doing that much for me. :mellow:

 
Yankee23Fan said:
Finished up Dune over the weekend. It was a very entertaining book, although having seen the movie I think I lost some of the books power. I kept focusing on how this part or tha part was in the movie or what was missing and how the movie could have been better with some of the stuff it left out. Overall it was a solid work though that my own inability to separate from the movie did a disservice to. I may be interested in reading the follow ups there after I knock out more of the list.Moved on to Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy and am almost done with it. This isn't doing that much for me. :lmao:
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DUNE was a great starter, the next 3-4 are what make the series IMO. The whole Hitchhikers series is either love or hate IMO. Had a friend recommend it too me a long, long time ago. He absolutely loved that kind of comedy, I was like you :shrug: . Didn't do all that much for me.
 
Yankee23Fan said:
Moved on to Hitchikers Guide to the Galaxy and am almost done with it. This isn't doing that much for me. :lmao:
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I think it's one of those books you need to read when you're young for it do do anything for you. I think I read it when I was 16. I have no desire to ever reading it again.
 
Am reading an excellent book right now about decision-making and neuroscience called "How We Decide." It's a lot 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. Although I really liked "Outliers" by Gladwell a lot, as well.

Also recently read a cool novel called "The Selected Works of T.S. Spivet." It's about a 12-year-old kid who is a genius cartographer who gets called to DC from his Montana home to receive a big award from the Smithsonian. It's a really, really well done and unique book interspersed with "examples" of his maps, drawings and charts. Because of those features, the book is oddly oversized and expensive -- I just checked it out of the library.

 
I am reading Dies the Fire by Stirling. Total impulse buy. Never heard of it. The premise is pretty far fetched but once you get past that the characters are really well done and the story is very fast paced. Just about finished with it and picked up the next two in the series.

I also just found out that this book was an offshoot of another series the guy wrote and I will likely check them out too.

 
Kind of getting burnt out right now. I've generally been averaging about 100 books a year, but am reading very slowly these days.

A big part of it is time, but the other part is that I haven't found any really compelling books in about the last six months. Right now I'm reading Christine by Stephen King, which isn't bad but isn't doing much for me.

I do have high hopes for a couple of books on my short list though. I'm about to start a fantasy trilogy by Joe Abercrombie and am going to dive into Master and Commander really soon as well.

Then again, I though Hyperion would be the one to pull me out of my funk, but it was just ok.

 
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igbomb said:
Kind of getting burnt out right now. I've generally been averaging about 100 books a year, but am reading very slowly these days. A big part of it is time, but the other part is that I haven't found any really compelling books in about the last six months. Right now I'm reading Christine by Stephen King, which isn't bad but isn't doing much for me.I do have high hopes for a couple of books on my short list though. I'm about to start a fantasy trilogy by Joe Abercrombie and am going to dive into Master and Commander really soon as well.Then again, I though Hyperion would be the one to pull me out of my funk, but it was just ok.
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You finish a book every 3.6 days? When I was travelling twice a year I finished about 25-30 in a year mostly sitting in airports waiting for flights or at restaurants (eating alone sucks, but a book makes it a bit better while on the road), but I couldn't touch half of that number in a year. Are you a book editor by chance?
 
TheFanatic said:
igbomb said:
Kind of getting burnt out right now. I've generally been averaging about 100 books a year, but am reading very slowly these days. A big part of it is time, but the other part is that I haven't found any really compelling books in about the last six months. Right now I'm reading Christine by Stephen King, which isn't bad but isn't doing much for me.I do have high hopes for a couple of books on my short list though. I'm about to start a fantasy trilogy by Joe Abercrombie and am going to dive into Master and Commander really soon as well.Then again, I though Hyperion would be the one to pull me out of my funk, but it was just ok.
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You finish a book every 3.6 days? When I was travelling twice a year I finished about 25-30 in a year mostly sitting in airports waiting for flights or at restaurants (eating alone sucks, but a book makes it a bit better while on the road), but I couldn't touch half of that number in a year. Are you a book editor by chance?
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My M.O. has been to put the kids to bed, then put a baseball game on in the background while I read a book for a couple of hours. Lately, I've just been watching the game, working on stuff around the house (probably a better choice anyway), or flipping channels.
 
Started 100 Years of Solitude last night. HAving a hard time finishing up Hitchikers Guide. It's a tiny read but there is just nothing there for me..... 100 years had an interesting opening, I'll say that.....

 
Just realized that I have Life of Pi on my bookshelf (apparently my fiance had it and read most of it) so because of the chatter around here, I might have to pick that up and read through it soon.

 
Just finished House of Cards by Will Cohen.

I'm 300 pages deep into a book I have put off for way, way, way too long (or so I have been told) - Atlas Shruged by Ayn Rand.

 
igbomb said:
TheFanatic said:
igbomb said:
Kind of getting burnt out right now. I've generally been averaging about 100 books a year, but am reading very slowly these days. A big part of it is time, but the other part is that I haven't found any really compelling books in about the last six months. Right now I'm reading Christine by Stephen King, which isn't bad but isn't doing much for me.I do have high hopes for a couple of books on my short list though. I'm about to start a fantasy trilogy by Joe Abercrombie and am going to dive into Master and Commander really soon as well.Then again, I though Hyperion would be the one to pull me out of my funk, but it was just ok.
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You finish a book every 3.6 days? When I was travelling twice a year I finished about 25-30 in a year mostly sitting in airports waiting for flights or at restaurants (eating alone sucks, but a book makes it a bit better while on the road), but I couldn't touch half of that number in a year. Are you a book editor by chance?
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My M.O. has been to put the kids to bed, then put a baseball game on in the background while I read a book for a couple of hours. Lately, I've just been watching the game, working on stuff around the house (probably a better choice anyway), or flipping channels.
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Still, 100 books in a year? That's two a week. as for your MO, yeah that's me in the summers too. Baseball is such a great background. I read (and nap) a ton with the baseball game in the background. Started the 4th Drizzt book and then saw that a new Star Wars book came out. The former was recommended by a friend. I read the first three. Not bad. I enjoyed them. Sort of a filler between books. I bought the next two Stirling books after finishing Dies the Fire but I will be on vacay in mid July so I wanted to save those for then, hence the Drizzt book. The Star Wars book is my guilty pleasure. I LOVE the star wars universe. My first non animated movie as a child was Star Wars at the age of 4. I have ready maybe 50 star wars novels in the last 10 years. Not something I suggest to friends but something I greatly enjoy. I will finish this star wars novel in less than a week and maybe a week for the Drizzt book. Then vacation. On vacation I have a basic premise, pool, swim laps, read, get a little crispy, back to the cabin to nap, up, get the grills going, drink, play poker, drink, crash repeat. I read the 6th Harry Potter in 3 days with that method. I will finish 2 books and get most of the way through a third in one week on vacation.... Still that pales in comparison to your pace!!! :D
 
Finihsed Hitchikers. Kinda blah on that one. Read as much as I could of 100 Years of Solitude before I put it down. Didn't enjoy a single part of it. But I want to give it a chance so I will be going back to it.

Working on 2 Vonnegut's at the same time. Timequake, which he probably shouldn' have written, and Welcome to the Monkey House which has been very entertaining.

 
Christine by Stephen King

This one suffered from a pacing problem. It started slow for the first 150 pages or so. Then it started to pick up, just to slow back down again. Did this a couple more times before the end as well.

Not bad, but not all that good either.

 
Sand said:
Starting up Shantaram today. Any opinions?
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several posts in the thread about it. my take: i wanted to love it, but it was way too dense, as in packed to the brim with details. Mind-numbing details. Didn't even make it halfway. The fans can bag on me if they want. Still hoping that the movie gets made.
 
Sand said:
Starting up Shantaram today. Any opinions?
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One of my favorite books... Long and detail packed but I loved it... The details really allow you delve into the world the book illustrates and think that you really know and understand the characters.
 
beer 30 said:
Black Order by James Rollins. Finished up Sandstorm last week, Map of Bones was out at the library so I picked this one up. Just started it last night. Haven't read something along these lines in a while so it was a quick, fun read.
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Glad you liked this. I read this one a while back and thought it was complete and utter dreck. I doubt I'll ever pick up a Rollins book again. Steve Berry is in the same category.
 
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Sand said:
beer 30 said:
Black Order by James Rollins. Finished up Sandstorm last week, Map of Bones was out at the library so I picked this one up. Just started it last night. Haven't read something along these lines in a while so it was a quick, fun read.
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Glad you liked this. I read this one a while back and thought it was complete and utter dreck. I doubt I'll ever pick up a Rollins book again. Steve Berry is in the same category.
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:goodposting: well there's a ringing endorsement if I've ever heard one.It's certainly not without its moments of unbelievability but I like the combination of history with technology with a decent story. It will never be mistaken for literary genius to be sure.

 
Lizer said:
I read once again:Gabriel Garcia Marquez - One Hundred Years of Solitude.
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Picked this book up a few years ago but never got around to reading it. I've seen it mentioned a few times in this thread now... I'll have to go back and check it out.Right now I'm reading "Kitchen Confidential." It's been a huge disappointment so far... I may just give up on it.
 
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