Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (12 Viewers)

[Uruk-Hai]

The Meaning Of Night: A Confession by Michael Cox

Set in 1854 London, it's a first-person narrative by a man who's relative lack of success in life can be traced back to a childhood betrayal and his plans to be avenged on the person responsible. As part detective novel, part psychological thriller, and part historical suspense story it's pretty entertaining. There are tons of twists - some obvious, some less so. This is a loong book (700+ pages) & I think Cox could've probably cut out some aspects of his (almost) too-intricate plot, but he's done his homework & so far everything seems to work.

 

[shuke]

Still plodding along A Clash of Kings. Question for those of you who have read it.

 

[The_Man]

Read a book called "A Visit from the Goon Squad" by Jennifer Egan, which was an interesting, post-modern series of interlocking stories surrounding a punk rock record label that coalesced into a satisfying novel. So then I read her book called "The Keep" which turned out to be kind of the same thing, only even more metafictional, based around a Gothic novel set in a semi-haunted European castle. If you're into what is marketed as "literary fiction" then I really recommend both these books, especially The Keep.

My favorite King books are Salem's Lot and The Dead Zone. Once you've finished the book, check out the 1979 miniseries with David Soul and James Mason -- it's great and super creepy. Dead Zone is a very good movie too.

 

[kupcho1]

Still plodding along A Clash of Kings. Question for those of you who have read it.
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Do you really want to know?

 

[kupcho1]

My favorite King books are Salem's Lot and The Dead Zone. Once you've finished the book, check out the 1979 miniseries with David Soul and James Mason -- it's great and super creepy. Dead Zone is a very good movie too.

Agreed. Salem's Lot is one of King's best and I was amazed that such a good version (I think it was a 2 parter) made it to television.

 

[ODoyleRules]

Just finished The Last Stand by Nathaniel Philbrick recounting Custer's last days and Sitting Bull's perspective. I had enjoyed Philbrick's In the Heart of the Sea so I thought I'd give this a go. I liked it as it read more like a narrative than a history book, which kept things moving. He's also good about not trying to rub in your face how much research he did which can drag down any historic retrospect. In the end though, Custer's story is only so interesting. I liked In Heart of the Sea better and found this to be good but not great.

Also read Thirty Nine Years of Short Term Memory Loss. just awful. I wanted a behind-the-scenes look at SNL and this was not it.

 

[FUBAR]

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)

Just starting The Talisman now, I've read most of the others and agree with your opinion. Not the whole DT series, just the first which I enjoyed.

Talisman was pretty good, not the best book I've ever read but probably in the top 50 - 100. Just started Pedaling Revolution, seems a great read especially for us cyclists.

 

[shuke]

Still plodding along A Clash of Kings. Question for those of you who have read it.
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Never mind.

 

[facook]

Finished 2666 by Bolano about 10 days ago. I really enjoyed it. Book 4 did drag, but Book 5 was absolutely riveting.

Now on A Dark Matter by Peter Straub. Not "horror" but because it deals w/ occult stuff I guess it has to fit there. I'd call it more intrigue/suspense. Pretty good.

 

[Maelstrom]

Prompted by the re-read going on at tor, I'm going back and re-reading the entire Wheel of Time, slowly. I tend to rip through books to get to find out what happens and sometime miss a lot of detail. I'm on Book 2 right now, and so far still having fun with it. We'll see if I can keep it up once the pace bogs down in books 7-9.

I enjoyed the "slower" books more the second and third time through them. I think I appreciated them more knowing a little more about the series than the first time I read them, and I also tend to rip through books.

 

[FUBAR]

Palestine Betrayed by Efraim Karsh

 

[dharmapunk]

Reading Lolita in Tehran. I'm going to teach it this semester in my writing class.

It's about an English professor in Iran who resigns because she's sick of the repressive atmosphere after the Islamic Revolution. She then holds a secret class in her house for select students to read/discuss literature banned by the government, such as Nabokov's Lolitia (she's a Nabokov scholar - wrote her first book on him). It's a memoir, with all the interest and cheese that entails, but so far it's pretty interesting.

 

[biggamer3]

just read Freakonomics for the first time. How does SuperFreakonomics compare to original?

 

[The Hardline]

Reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote right now. Slow reading but an interesting writing style that is engaging. He gets a little wordy but he knows how to build a stroy.

Other books in the cue right now:

The Kid Stays in the Picture - the autobigraphy of Robert Evans the legendary Hollywood film producer. I am curious if anyone has read this as I have heard it is really great.

The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich - Have seen that a couple of people have read this.

 

[ODoyleRules]

just read Freakonomics for the first time. How does SuperFreakonomics compare to original?

if you liked the original, you'll probably like the 2nd. Super follows the same format but focuses on more topical, politically charged issues. As a result, it comes off a little more preachy than the first. Like the first, you'll still get some interesting ideas on old subjects, but the novelty has now wore off (to me at least). I liked both.

 

[JFT Ben]

just read Freakonomics for the first time. How does SuperFreakonomics compare to original?

Read both of these this summer, SuperF is more of the same. A few nuggets of interesting things, some I really didn't care about. If you liked the first, you'll like the second probably.

 

[JFT Ben]

I'm about halfway through Chuck Palahnuik's Stranger than Fiction: True Stories, a non-fiction short story compilation. I'm a Chuck P fan and his writing style here is similar to his fiction works, minimalistic and straightforward, more like you are hearing a conversational story on the subject matter. The book is really enjoyable so far, with single serving, bite sized nuggets on subjects I know little about: an annual combine demolition derby, castle building in the US, olympic trials for wrestling (as a former HS wrestler I really enjoyed that one), living on board a Navy submarine, etc. A light break from longer, more serious novels and learning a few things too. Other subjects in the book (haven't read yet), include interviews with Marilyn Manson and a lady who searches for dead bodies at disaster sites; a few stories on both the friends that influenced events in Fight Club and the aftermath of Fight Club imitators; and a story on his exerience working at a hospice

 

[Hellfire Snail]

I'm about halfway through Chuck Palahnuik's Stranger than Fiction: True Stories, a non-fiction short story compilation. I'm a Chuck P fan and his writing style here is similar to his fiction works, minimalistic and straightforward, more like you are hearing a conversational story on the subject matter. The book is really enjoyable so far, with single serving, bite sized nuggets on subjects I know little about: an annual combine demolition derby, castle building in the US, olympic trials for wrestling (as a former HS wrestler I really enjoyed that one), living on board a Navy submarine, etc. A light break from longer, more serious novels and learning a few things too. Other subjects in the book (haven't read yet), include interviews with Marilyn Manson and a lady who searches for dead bodies at disaster sites; a few stories on both the friends that influenced events in Fight Club and the aftermath of Fight Club imitators; and a story on his exerience working at a hospice

This sounds pretty cool. I enjoy CP's writing style. Stacking short sentences on top of each other while keeping the prose intelligent and enjoyable is not easy, but he does it about as well as anyone. Will check this out.

 

[igbomb]

Gone Baby Gone - Dennis Lehane - Fantastic. Would have been better if I hadn't already seen the movie, but it was still great though I knew how it would all end. I'm trying to space out my Lehane books since his catalog isn't too large, but I'm having a hard time not reading them one after the other.

The Confessor - Daniel Silva - I almost gave up on this series after the first book. It just didn't seem that interesting. But having read a couple more, I really like these books. I'm not sure what changed between books one and two, but I now thing this is one of the better series out there.

The Tommyknockers - Stephen King - The worst King book I have read. Really, really boring for the vast majority of it.

Currently reading:

Born to Run - Christopher McDougall - Phenomenal book about ultra distance running. This is exactly the kind of non-fiction I like as it makes you smarter while telling an oftentimes amazing story. I immediately want to run out and buy some Vibram Fivefingers and go for a jog. On the other hand, this book is also sheer torture as I am currently reading it while wearing a cast on my foot as I am four weeks removed from surgery to re-attach my Achilles tendon. I have an appointment with my foot and ankle surgeon tomorrow and I can't wait to ask him what he thinks about the whole barefoot running movement and whether it would be good for me as I work into my rehab. The book notes that many orthopedic doctors are not on board with the barefoot running trend and I'm curious to see where he stands.

Next up:

A couple of doorstoppers in The Terror by Dan Simmons and The Way of Kings by Brandon Sanderson.

 

[pantagrapher]

Sheesh. Haven't seen this thread in a while. Finished Nabokov's short stories. There are some true gems in there. Hard to pick a favorite, but I plan to reread a bunch of them more carefully over the winter. Also read "The Death of Ivan Ilyich," which I'd been meaning to read for a while. Probably not the smartest late-summer fare. Very bleak. But nicely crafted. The closing chapters in particular are striking.

Just now starting "King, Queen, Knave."

 

[The_Man]

Just started "Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen. The opening section is great, though I had already read it when it was excerpted in the New Yorker. I hate when the New Yorker runs chunks of books (fiction and non-fiction) without telling you they're excerpts of forthcoming longer works.

 

[bigbottom]

Finished Mockingjay, the third installment of the Hunger Games trilogy. I didn't enjoy it as much as the first two books, but the overall trilogy was an enjoyable and easy read (this is YA fiction by the way, so adjust your expectations accordingly).

After that I picked up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which I just finished this morning. Pretty good page turner, and I'll definitely start the next book tonight. I'm really starting to like these quirky crime mysteries. One of the reasons I enjoyed Josh Bazell's Beat the reaper so much.

 

[bigbottom]

Gone Baby Gone - Dennis Lehane - Fantastic. Would have been better if I hadn't already seen the movie, but it was still great though I knew how it would all end. I'm trying to space out my Lehane books since his catalog isn't too large, but I'm having a hard time not reading them one after the other.

Have you read Prayers for Rain? Definitely a good read. I'd been avoiding Gone Baby Gone for the sole reason that I'd already seen the movie. Glad to hear that it's still enjoyable regardless. It's now on the list.

 

[pricklypete]

Finished The Passage.

I loved the beginning, great character development and I cared for the people I was reading about.

Then came the time jump. I didn't know what the hell was going on for a while. It was an awkward, inbred world that I really didn't care about. Why would a surviving society throw away the majority of books from the time before? Wouldn't it be a little easier to acclimate the children of the colony to their surroundings from birth? No, lets hide the world from them until they are 8 and then just dump it on them all at once.

After the the idiots at the colony (hopefully) died, the book got a little better.

I will check out the next one to see how it progresses.

In all I thought this was a VERY overrated book. Had a lot of promise in the beginning, sucked in the middle and began to redeem itself in the end.

 

[igbomb]

Gone Baby Gone - Dennis Lehane - Fantastic. Would have been better if I hadn't already seen the movie, but it was still great though I knew how it would all end. I'm trying to space out my Lehane books since his catalog isn't too large, but I'm having a hard time not reading them one after the other.

Have you read Prayers for Rain? Definitely a good read. I'd been avoiding Gone Baby Gone for the sole reason that I'd already seen the movie. Glad to hear that it's still enjoyable regardless. It's now on the list.

Not yet. I've been reading them in chronological order so Prayers is the one I have yet to read. Though he's publishing another Kenzie/Genarro novel this year so I still have that to look forward to. I haven't read any of his stand-alones yet either.

 

[Wrigley]

Under the Dome: Stephen King

I think I just read too much of my own link(I'm only about 400 pages in)

 

[kupcho1]

Almost through White Teeth by Zadie Smith.

White Teeth is a 2000 novel by the British author Zadie Smith. It focuses on the later lives of two wartime friends—the Bangladeshi Samad Iqbal and the Englishman Archie Jones, and their families in London. The book won multiple honours, including the 2000 James Tait Black Memorial Prize for fiction, the 2000 Whitbread Book Award in category best first novel,[1] the Guardian First Book Award, the Commonwealth Writers First Book Prize, and the Betty Trask Award. Time Magazine included the novel in its TIME 100 Best English-language Novels from 1923 to 2005.[2]

 

[Todd Andrews]

Just finished the third--Faithful Place--in the Tania French series which starts with In the Woods and The Likeness. Great well written literary crime books set in Ireland (speaking of which if you like the subject read the Benjamin Black books, it is John Banville's literary crime writing pseudonym).

Just started the advance galley for Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan's second book, the sequel to The Strain. Simple but fun vampire stuff.

 

[Todd Andrews]

After that I picked up The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, which I just finished this morning. Pretty good page turner, and I'll definitely start the next book tonight. I'm really starting to like these quirky crime mysteries. One of the reasons I enjoyed Josh Bazell's Beat the reaper so much.

If you like the Larsson books, I highly recommend the Swedish movies in subtitle. Very very good.

 

[Jutz]

A few books ive read in the past few months:

Eating the Dinosaur - Chuck Klosterman

If you liked Sex, Drugs and Cocoa Puffs I am pretty sure you will like this one. Very similar in style and similarly random in topics... it came off to me as Sex, Drugs, and Cocoa Puffs with more recent material. What do David Koresh and Kurt Cobain have in common? What are the inherent problems with time travel, and how are these represented in movies. In what was was the Unibomber right? If these questions sound interesting to you... I recommend this book.

The Accidental Billionaires: The Founding of Facebook, a tale of Sex, Money, Genius and Betrayal - Ben Mezrich

Same auther that wrote Bringin' Down the House. Very interesting story of how the site was developed... and the problems that followed. I heard the writer interviewed and he said the founder of FB refused to talk to him. He got most of his info from a (past) close friend of the FB founder that went to Harvard with him. The writer makes a disclaimer that he doesn't have facts about all things, and he did take come creative liberties in describing how he things some situations panned out. Regardless, very interesting story, and an entertaining read.

I Hope The Serve Beer In Hell - Tucker Max

Not sure that this one needs explanation. Driking, debauchery, and a lot of it. Towards the end it does start to get a little booring... I got drun,, I hooked up... repeat. But there were enough interesting characters that kept me going. One of my favorite characters was a guy called Sling Blade. Pretty good... but not great.

Killing Yourself to Live - Chuck Klosterman

I reading this one now. Only about a chapter into it... sof far so good.

 

[commisholio]

Prompted by the re-read going on at tor, I'm going back and re-reading the entire Wheel of Time, slowly. I tend to rip through books to get to find out what happens and sometime miss a lot of detail. I'm on Book 2 right now, and so far still having fun with it. We'll see if I can keep it up once the pace bogs down in books 7-9.

So I finished this up last week. I enjoyed it all the way through - the parts that I remembered taking forever (the Perrin-Faile rescue, the crowning of Elayne, the hunt for the Bowl of Winds) moved faster than I remembered and there were interesting bits throughout. Somewhat surprised that Nynaeve hadn't pulled her braid all the way off by the end of book 12.Book 13, Towers of Midnight, is scheduled for release November 2. I am really looking forward to it.

 

[The Z Machine]

Currently reading:

The Brief Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Díaz

It starts out a little slow/weird, but picks up its pace and rhythm about halfway through. The style is modern and Junot has a great storytelling vibe. His use of slang and the patois of the characters is pretty damn good.

 

[shuke]

After months of falling asleep after reading 2 pages I finally got through A Clash of Kings. Not as good as A Game of Thrones, but good enough to make me want to start A Storm of Swords immediately after.

 

[facook]

The Burning Wire, latest Jeff Deaver Lincoln Rhyme novel. This is a series I've really enjoyed, but I'm very meh on this one so far. Maybe cause I'm not interested in electricity, the killer's preferred method.

 

[Sundays Rule]

After months of falling asleep after reading 2 pages I finally got through A Clash of Kings. Not as good as A Game of Thrones, but good enough to make me want to start A Storm of Swords immediately after.

Finished up Altered Carbon by Richard K. Morgan and I'm starting a reread of Game of Thrones. Still good the second time around.

 

[oso diablo]

The Prodigal God - Timothy Keller (author of Reason for God) - a look at the Parable of the Two Sons (better known as the Prodigal Son). You might be the younger son, and run away from God, serving only to please yourself. Or you might be the elder son, and be so moralistic that you are merely serving yourself in the guise of pleasing God. This is a little gem of a book. Not just for Christians.

America Between the Wars - US foreign policy between 11/9 (fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989) and 9/11, and its implications for today.

 

[Sundays Rule]

Prompted by the re-read going on at tor, I'm going back and re-reading the entire Wheel of Time, slowly. I tend to rip through books to get to find out what happens and sometime miss a lot of detail. I'm on Book 2 right now, and so far still having fun with it. We'll see if I can keep it up once the pace bogs down in books 7-9.

So I finished this up last week. I enjoyed it all the way through - the parts that I remembered taking forever (the Perrin-Faile rescue, the crowning of Elayne, the hunt for the Bowl of Winds) moved faster than I remembered and there were interesting bits throughout. Somewhat surprised that Nynaeve hadn't pulled her braid all the way off by the end of book 12.Book 13, Towers of Midnight, is scheduled for release November 2. I am really looking forward to it.

One of these days ill read these.

 

[Hellfire Snail]

Anybody reading Freedom by Franzen yet?

 

[Native]

Reading The Whisky Rebels by David Bliss. Highly recommended. Its an historical fiction that takes place after the Revolutionary War. The story centers around two plots that eventually cross paths:

1. A young couple are swindled into buying real estate in the barren, undeveloped part of Western Pennsylvania. To assist them in their efforts to cultivate the land, they begin making a new kind of whiskey that becomes immensely popular.

2. A disgraced ex-spy in Philadelphia works for Alexander Hamilton to protect the interests of the newly formed Bank of the United States. A Whiskey tax is suggested by government that will help raise money fore the fledgling bank.

Very well written.

 

[facook]

The Prodigal God - Timothy Keller (author of Reason for God) - a look at the Parable of the Two Sons (better known as the Prodigal Son). You might be the younger son, and run away from God, serving only to please yourself. Or you might be the elder son, and be so moralistic that you are merely serving yourself in the guise of pleasing God. This is a little gem of a book. Not just for Christians.

Love this book. Keller's a Christian for all men. Or something.Finished The Burning Wire by Jeff Deaver. Latest Lincoln Rhyme "thriller." I've loved this series, but it's worn thin for me for whatever reason. Meh.

Now on to So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger.

 

[The_Man]

Anybody reading Freedom by Franzen yet?

Just started "Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen. The opening section is great, though I had already read it when it was excerpted in the New Yorker. I hate when the New Yorker runs chunks of books (fiction and non-fiction) without telling you they're excerpts of forthcoming longer works.

200+ pages in and I'm liking it a lot. Very readable and engaging; I have no idea where it's going next. I'm now in the third main section, and it's being told from the third new point of view- he's handling the shifts in narration very well, not in a showy, or confusingly annoying way. My guess is that subsequent sections will be from the POV of the 2 or 3 remaining main characters who haven't had a section yet, but it also might go back to one of the previous POVs. Hope I'm not making it sound more meta than it is - like I said, it's very readable.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I'm on The 47th Samauri by Stephen Hunter. It's one of the Bob Lee Swagger books and is by far the worst that I've read so far. I really liked those that came before - both Bob Lee & Earl novels - but this is so sloppy I can't believe Hunter actually published it. I can overlook a lot if I like the story/writing, and this one had promise, but the plot has holes that even I can't get past and the characterization is pretty bad - the Bob Lee in this book doesn't even seem like the same character. I hate to say it, but I think Hunter just mailed this one in.

There are two more recent Swagger books - Night Of The Hunter & I, Sniper - and I'll give them both a try, but if they're no better, I think Hunter should move onto other things.

 

[Pooch]

Just finished Ordinary Heroes by Scott Turow. It tells the story of a journalist who uncovers writings of his father while going through his things following his funeral. The novel, told in first person, traces the son's journey into uncovering his father's role in World War II in the European Theatre.

Enjoyable book and easy to read. Just started reading Empire Falls by Richard Russo.

 

[Born to Run]

Now on to So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger.

How's it reading so far? This one is sitting high on my Next to be Read list, but has not made it to the top yet. Looking for an excuse to give it a nudge.

 

[roadkill1292]

I'm on The 47th Samauri by Stephen Hunter. It's one of the Bob Lee Swagger books and is by far the worst that I've read so far. I really liked those that came before - both Bob Lee & Earl novels - but this is so sloppy I can't believe Hunter actually published it. I can overlook a lot if I like the story/writing, and this one had promise, but the plot has holes that even I can't get past and the characterization is pretty bad - the Bob Lee in this book doesn't even seem like the same character. I hate to say it, but I think Hunter just mailed this one in.

There are two more recent Swagger books - Night Of The Hunter & I, Sniper - and I'll give them both a try, but if they're no better, I think Hunter should move onto other things.

The 47th Samurai was indeed a huge letdown after the other Swagger books.

 

[Hellfire Snail]

Anybody reading Freedom by Franzen yet?

Just started "Freedom" by Jonathan Franzen. The opening section is great, though I had already read it when it was excerpted in the New Yorker. I hate when the New Yorker runs chunks of books (fiction and non-fiction) without telling you they're excerpts of forthcoming longer works.

200+ pages in and I'm liking it a lot. Very readable and engaging; I have no idea where it's going next. I'm now in the third main section, and it's being told from the third new point of view- he's handling the shifts in narration very well, not in a showy, or confusingly annoying way. My guess is that subsequent sections will be from the POV of the 2 or 3 remaining main characters who haven't had a section yet, but it also might go back to one of the previous POVs. Hope I'm not making it sound more meta than it is - like I said, it's very readable.

Thanks for the input. Gonna start it this weekend, really looking forward to it. Franzen and David Mitchell are the only current authors whose books I'd buy brand new. Seems like people accuse Franzen of being showy; I think people mistake showiness for talent in his case. One of the last truly relevant writers we have.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Now on to So Brave, Young, and Handsome by Leif Enger.

How's it reading so far? This one is sitting high on my Next to be Read list, but has not made it to the top yet. Looking for an excuse to give it a nudge.

I read it and loved it

 

[Uruk-Hai]

I'm on The 47th Samauri by Stephen Hunter. It's one of the Bob Lee Swagger books and is by far the worst that I've read so far. I really liked those that came before - both Bob Lee & Earl novels - but this is so sloppy I can't believe Hunter actually published it. I can overlook a lot if I like the story/writing, and this one had promise, but the plot has holes that even I can't get past and the characterization is pretty bad - the Bob Lee in this book doesn't even seem like the same character. I hate to say it, but I think Hunter just mailed this one in.

There are two more recent Swagger books - Night Of The Hunter & I, Sniper - and I'll give them both a try, but if they're no better, I think Hunter should move onto other things.

The 47th Samurai was indeed a huge letdown after the other Swagger books.

Roadie, have you read the two that followed? Were they any better?

 

[roadkill1292]

I'm on The 47th Samauri by Stephen Hunter. It's one of the Bob Lee Swagger books and is by far the worst that I've read so far. I really liked those that came before - both Bob Lee & Earl novels - but this is so sloppy I can't believe Hunter actually published it. I can overlook a lot if I like the story/writing, and this one had promise, but the plot has holes that even I can't get past and the characterization is pretty bad - the Bob Lee in this book doesn't even seem like the same character. I hate to say it, but I think Hunter just mailed this one in.

There are two more recent Swagger books - Night Of The Hunter & I, Sniper - and I'll give them both a try, but if they're no better, I think Hunter should move onto other things.

The 47th Samurai was indeed a huge letdown after the other Swagger books.

Roadie, have you read the two that followed? Were they any better?

I honestly can't remember but it seems like I read one of them, maybe Sniper but don't quote me. And it wasn't a whole lot better. Hunter seems to be following in Clancy's footsteps, where his later stuff is just capitalizing on his earlier stuff. Which was great.

 

[KarmaPolice]

I am tired of having a shelf of books sitting there while I also have a pile of library books as well. Sold off a bunch of books at a garage sale so I am down to about 20 I haven't read. I have banned myself from library books or buying more until I have a bunch of these read.

Started Koko by P.Straub today and got about 70pgs in so far. Really like how it's set up and am enjoying it quite a bit so far.