Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (4 Viewers)

[rail]

Been watching a documentary on Ian Fleming. It's gotten me interested in reading a James Bond novel, but I suspect they may be pretty bad. Worth reading one? If so, is there a specific title that stands out above the rest?

 

[Brony]

I just read Ready Player One, and I really enjoyed it. If you played video games in the 80s or enjoy thinking about virtual worlds (or both), it's a pretty enjoyable romp. No real big surprises (maybe one twist toward the end), but just a fun book to read through.

I like an 80's reference as much as the next guy, but I just remember there being way too many "oh c'mon" credibility moments in that book. Admittedly, I don't read that much science fiction, but this was a huge stretch. Plus I thought the protagonist was pretty much a d-bag too.

 

[Possum]

Next up: Ready Player One

How is this? I have a couple of cross country flights over the next few days and have it lined up in the queue:

The Wind Through The Keyhole - King (currently halfway done)

Ready Player One - Cline

Snow Crash - Stephenson

It's okay. All of the references to my childhoold make it interesting, but it almost seems like the author is trying to cram a reference to every damn thing into the book.

Only about 60 pages in (slow reader), and I think the writing is shoddy and I'm not very interested in the main character yet.

yeah, totally agree with you here - I thought RP1 was dumb and contrived. I feel like most people that like it are so nostalgic for the pop culture references that they just ignore the crappy writing.

 

[igbomb]

After a couple of the comments here I substituted Ready Player One for Leviathan Wakes by Corey. I'm a little over 100 pages in and it's really fun. Not exactly high level writing but the authors know how to keep a plot moving (so far). Plus it's space opera Sci-fi.

Now you're talking. Leviathan Wakes is the most fun book I've read in the last decade. And it keeps getting better as you move through books 2 and 3.

Loved that book and the whole Expanse series. Just finished Abaddon's Gate (Book 3) and agree that all three were very fun reads and done quite well. I don't do a lot of space or sci-fi so this is a nice experience for me. I'm not sure if I want to start Book 4 (Cibola Burn) right away or tackle either The Butcher of Anderson Station or Gods of Risk, two short stories that go along with the Expanse books. Or maybe just take a break from space and do some crime thrillers I have sitting on my Kindle.

I also just finished listening to Skin Game, the latest Dresden files book. Butcher's writing really has gotten a LOT better, and the entire series is a just one big ball of fun, in large part due to James Marsters' fantastic narration. There are few things more enjoyable than listening to a good book read by a great narrator - it just really fleshes out the entire story more for me and draws me in even further. The only problem is that bad narration can screw a book up big time for me. Most everything I've heard about The Way of Kings is about how great it is, but I made the mistake of listening to it instead of reading it, and the narrators are killing it for me. I'm about halfway through and have to take a break from it for a while or else I'll just delete it. Someone please tell me it gets better and there's more than just some dudes messing around on the Shattered Plain. Other than Kaladin, I don't like any of the characters or storylines. I don't want to miss out on what's supposed to be an epic series, though - should I just slog my way through it?

I'm about 2/3s of the way through Leviathan Wakes now. It keeps getting better. And it's good to hear that books 2 and 3 continue in that mold.

As for the Dresden files stuff... I thought the first one was so god awful that, regardless of what people said about the later books, I couldn't bring myself to keep going.

Yep. I'm one of those guys that trumpet the later Dresden books. It really gets a lot stronger around book 3 or 4.

Having said that, I totally get someone not willing to muddle thorugh books just to get to the later ones.

And, if you think it's awful, you probably won't love them later anyway. The first ones are definitely the weakest, but they don't completely change later on, just get better.

 

[Thorn]

Finished Boy on Ice, about Derek Boogaard, the hockey enforcer who died in 2012 at age 28. Scary and depressing stuff about the business of sport, and the kind of access these players have to drugs.

Starting The Psychopath Whisperer, non-fiction about a psychologist who works in a Canadian prison for seven year to study and interview true psychopaths. Riveting so far.

 

[shuke]

Just finished The Boy Who Drew Monsters by Keith Donahue. Decent little horror novel with multiple perspectives on the same story. Really liked the ending.

Now reading Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock. Very different. Multiple stories in the same town featuring a different voice in each story, but recurring characters throughout. So far I like it.

 

[shuke]

Starting The Psychopath Whisperer, non-fiction about a psychologist who works in a Canadian prison for seven year to study and interview true psychopaths. Riveting so far.

 

[facook]

Just finished The Boy Who Drew Monsters by Keith Donahue. Decent little horror novel with multiple perspectives on the same story. Really liked the ending.

Now reading Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock. Very different. Multiple stories in the same town featuring a different voice in each story, but recurring characters throughout. So far I like it.

Thumbs up for Knockemstiff, but it's not for the faint of heart. Incredibly corrupt and profane throughout. Worth the read, and it's a quick one.

Now onto The Wolf in Winter, the latest in John Connolly's Charlie Parker series.

 

[skol asylum]

Listening to Ender's Game.

 

[Possum]

finally got around to reading the Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence, and I thought it definitely deserves all the praise it's gotten. Really cool gritty, violent fantasy/scifi set in a post-apocalyptic Europe a thousand years after WW3 and the collapse of civilization. The ocean has risen and changed the coastlines, there are a bunch of warring small feudal kingdoms in a quasi-medieval society, and characters are always stumbling across traces of ancient advanced technology left over from before the war.

[POSSIBLE SPOILER:]I really liked (though I never can totally understand this stuff) the way he uses quantum physics as a plausible(ish) explanation for the "magic" people are able to do. I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic fiction anyway and I felt like this was about as well executed as it gets.

other good stuff I've recently read/am reading:

the Oathsworn series by Robert Low - book one, The Whale Road is at http://www.amazon.com/Whale-Road-Oathsworn-Book-ebook/dp/B0051GUES6

This is historical fiction about a group of Norse warriors in the late tenth century and their exploits across Europe, Russia and the Middle East. The first novel is told through the eyes of Orm "Bear Slayer" Ruriksson, a teenager who joins his longlost father (navigator of the raiding ship Fjord Elk, under command of the jarl Einar the Black) on a quest to find Attila the Hun's burial mound, which is supposed to be full of treasure, and then the other books follow Orm and the crew of the Elk through additional wars and adventures. This series is awesome, really well-written and full of badass characters, dark humor and brutal violence. I've seen them referred to as fantasy novels by a couple of folks on Goodreads and Amazon, but it's basically straight historical fiction - there are some mentions of magic, witches, etc., but it's just presented as part of the beliefs and religion of the time, not as actually happening.

I really enjoy the way Low writes - it's intelligent and fast-paced with excellent characterization, and he writes great action sequences. He also has another historical fiction series called The Kingdom about the Scottish war for independence via William Wallace and Robert the Bruce which I'll be checking out as soon as I'm done with these.

Gallow: The Fateguard Trilogy by Nathan Hawke - http://amzn.com/B00JZVTVVE

This is another Viking/Norse warrior saga, but this one is set in an alternate world and is more of a fantasy action series with overtones of historical fiction. I've heard a lot of people describe this as the literary heir to David Gemmell's Drenai stuff - I've only read Legend, and I think Gallow is miles ahead of Gemmell in terms of writing quality, but I can definitely see the parallels with the focus on honor and how a man's character defines his choices. I had never heard of this series before I picked it up on a whim, but I absolutely loved it. Great stuff, also full of brutal violence and dark humor - it had me turning pages non-stop and hating the fact that it had to end somewhere.

 

[rail]

finally got around to reading the Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence, and I thought it definitely deserves all the praise it's gotten. Really cool gritty, violent fantasy/scifi set in a post-apocalyptic Europe a thousand years after WW3 and the collapse of civilization. The ocean has risen and changed the coastlines, there are a bunch of warring small feudal kingdoms in a quasi-medieval society, and characters are always stumbling across traces of ancient advanced technology left over from before the war.

[POSSIBLE SPOILER:]I really liked (though I never can totally understand this stuff) the way he uses quantum physics as a plausible(ish) explanation for the "magic" people are able to do. I'm a sucker for post-apocalyptic fiction anyway and I felt like this was about as well executed as it gets.

other good stuff I've recently read/am reading:

the Oathsworn series by Robert Low - book one, The Whale Road is at http://www.amazon.com/Whale-Road-Oathsworn-Book-ebook/dp/B0051GUES6

This is historical fiction about a group of Norse warriors in the late tenth century and their exploits across Europe, Russia and the Middle East. The first novel is told through the eyes of Orm "Bear Slayer" Ruriksson, a teenager who joins his longlost father (navigator of the raiding ship Fjord Elk, under command of the jarl Einar the Black) on a quest to find Attila the Hun's burial mound, which is supposed to be full of treasure, and then the other books follow Orm and the crew of the Elk through additional wars and adventures. This series is awesome, really well-written and full of badass characters, dark humor and brutal violence. I've seen them referred to as fantasy novels by a couple of folks on Goodreads and Amazon, but it's basically straight historical fiction - there are some mentions of magic, witches, etc., but it's just presented as part of the beliefs and religion of the time, not as actually happening.

I really enjoy the way Low writes - it's intelligent and fast-paced with excellent characterization, and he writes great action sequences. He also has another historical fiction series called The Kingdom about the Scottish war for independence via William Wallace and Robert the Bruce which I'll be checking out as soon as I'm done with these.

Gallow: The Fateguard Trilogy by Nathan Hawke - http://amzn.com/B00JZVTVVE

This is another Viking/Norse warrior saga, but this one is set in an alternate world and is more of a fantasy action series with overtones of historical fiction. I've heard a lot of people describe this as the literary heir to David Gemmell's Drenai stuff - I've only read Legend, and I think Gallow is miles ahead of Gemmell in terms of writing quality, but I can definitely see the parallels with the focus on honor and how a man's character defines his choices. I had never heard of this series before I picked it up on a whim, but I absolutely loved it. Great stuff, also full of brutal violence and dark humor - it had me turning pages non-stop and hating the fact that it had to end somewhere.

:blackdot

 

[E Street Brat]

Finished Boy on Ice, about Derek Boogaard, the hockey enforcer who died in 2012 at age 28. Scary and depressing stuff about the business of sport, and the kind of access these players have to drugs.

Starting The Psychopath Whisperer, non-fiction about a psychologist who works in a Canadian prison for seven year to study and interview true psychopaths. Riveting so far.

Added both to wishlist

 

[Lehigh98]

finally got around to reading the Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence, and I thought it definitely deserves all the praise it's gotten. Really cool gritty, violent fantasy/scifi set in a post-apocalyptic Europe a thousand years after WW3 and the collapse of civilization. The ocean has risen and changed the coastlines, there are a bunch of warring small feudal kingdoms in a quasi-medieval society, and characters are always stumbling across traces of ancient advanced technology left over from before the war.

Meh, been there, done that...

http://youtu.be/LhAobPugvsk

 

[Possum]

finally got around to reading the Broken Empire trilogy by Mark Lawrence, and I thought it definitely deserves all the praise it's gotten. Really cool gritty, violent fantasy/scifi set in a post-apocalyptic Europe a thousand years after WW3 and the collapse of civilization. The ocean has risen and changed the coastlines, there are a bunch of warring small feudal kingdoms in a quasi-medieval society, and characters are always stumbling across traces of ancient advanced technology left over from before the war.

Meh, been there, done that...http://youtu.be/LhAobPugvsk

 

[Possum]

Oh yeah, also been reading the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson - those are freaking awesome books, sort of like a northwestern James Lee Burke with a sense of humor.

 

[shuke]

Next up: Ready Player One

How is this? I have a couple of cross country flights over the next few days and have it lined up in the queue:

The Wind Through The Keyhole - King (currently halfway done)

Ready Player One - Cline

Snow Crash - Stephenson

It's okay. All of the references to my childhoold make it interesting, but it almost seems like the author is trying to cram a reference to every damn thing into the book.

Only about 60 pages in (slow reader), and I think the writing is shoddy and I'm not very interested in the main character yet.

yeah, totally agree with you here - I thought RP1 was dumb and contrived. I feel like most people that like it are so nostalgic for the pop culture references that they just ignore the crappy writing.

Finished it. Even with the references that struck a chord with me, I thought it was pretty meh. Writing was pretty bad.

Next up: The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. I think someone here recommended it.

Also just started reading The Hobbit with my son. I've never read it before.

 

[Possum]

Next up: Ready Player One

How is this? I have a couple of cross country flights over the next few days and have it lined up in the queue:

The Wind Through The Keyhole - King (currently halfway done)

Ready Player One - Cline

Snow Crash - Stephenson

It's okay. All of the references to my childhoold make it interesting, but it almost seems like the author is trying to cram a reference to every damn thing into the book.

Only about 60 pages in (slow reader), and I think the writing is shoddy and I'm not very interested in the main character yet.

yeah, totally agree with you here - I thought RP1 was dumb and contrived. I feel like most people that like it are so nostalgic for the pop culture references that they just ignore the crappy writing.

Finished it. Even with the references that struck a chord with me, I thought it was pretty meh. Writing was pretty bad.

Next up: The Dog Stars by Peter Heller. I think someone here recommended it.

Also just started reading The Hobbit with my son. I've never read it before.

Dog Stars was excellent imo and there were several others in this thread that liked and mentioned it too. There were also a couple folks I remember who didn't like the stream of consciousness style narration too much.

I really dug it, though - I didn't think the plot was groundbreaking or anything like that but it was just a beautifully written book in a lot of ways for me.

 

[GoFishTN]

Next up: Ready Player One

How is this? I have a couple of cross country flights over the next few days and have it lined up in the queue:

The Wind Through The Keyhole - King (currently halfway done)

Ready Player One - Cline

Snow Crash - Stephenson

It's okay. All of the references to my childhoold make it interesting, but it almost seems like the author is trying to cram a reference to every damn thing into the book.

Only about 60 pages in (slow reader), and I think the writing is shoddy and I'm not very interested in the main character yet.

yeah, totally agree with you here - I thought RP1 was dumb and contrived. I feel like most people that like it are so nostalgic for the pop culture references that they just ignore the crappy writing.

I just finished this and I thought it was pretty good. All the references too my youth didn't hurt, but even without those I don't think I would call it crappy writing.

 

[Swing 51]

Man on Wire. This guy (Philippe Petit) is crazy.

 

[skol asylum]

Next up: Ready Player One

How is this? I have a couple of cross country flights over the next few days and have it lined up in the queue:

The Wind Through The Keyhole - King (currently halfway done)

Ready Player One - Cline

Snow Crash - Stephenson

It's okay. All of the references to my childhoold make it interesting, but it almost seems like the author is trying to cram a reference to every damn thing into the book.

Only about 60 pages in (slow reader), and I think the writing is shoddy and I'm not very interested in the main character yet.

yeah, totally agree with you here - I thought RP1 was dumb and contrived. I feel like most people that like it are so nostalgic for the pop culture references that they just ignore the crappy writing.

I just finished this and I thought it was pretty good. All the references too my youth didn't hurt, but even without those I don't think I would call it crappy writing.

I loved it. Then again i'm not a "literature" guy that needs complex writing to be entertained.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

Any fans of Erik Larsen, he's got a new book out tomorrow. Dead Wake, about the sinking of the Lusitania. It appears it's done in the same style as Devil In The White City and his other recent books.

 

[Brony]

Any fans of Erik Larsen, he's got a new book out tomorrow. Dead Wake, about the sinking of the Lusitania. It appears it's done in the same style as Devil In The White City and his other recent books.

This is on my spring break reading list. I liked Devil in the White City, but haven't read any of his other stuff.

 

[Swing 51]

Any fans of Erik Larsen, he's got a new book out tomorrow. Dead Wake, about the sinking of the Lusitania. It appears it's done in the same style as Devil In The White City and his other recent books.

This is on my spring break reading list. I liked Devil in the White City, but haven't read any of his other stuff.

I read a review of this over the weekend. Sounds good.

http://www.nytimes.com/2015/03/05/books/review-erik-larsons-dead-wake-on-the-sinking-of-the-lusitania.html?ref=books&_r=0

 

[phatdawg]

Just finished Boys in the Boat, about the University of Washington's rowing team going to the 1936 Olympics.

Really good read.

 

[ragincajun]

I have not read every page here, but is everyone aware of the Overdrive app?

 

[shuke]

Next up: Ready Player One

How is this? I have a couple of cross country flights over the next few days and have it lined up in the queue:

The Wind Through The Keyhole - King (currently halfway done)

Ready Player One - Cline

Snow Crash - Stephenson

It's okay. All of the references to my childhoold make it interesting, but it almost seems like the author is trying to cram a reference to every damn thing into the book.

Only about 60 pages in (slow reader), and I think the writing is shoddy and I'm not very interested in the main character yet.

yeah, totally agree with you here - I thought RP1 was dumb and contrived. I feel like most people that like it are so nostalgic for the pop culture references that they just ignore the crappy writing.

I just finished this and I thought it was pretty good. All the references too my youth didn't hurt, but even without those I don't think I would call it crappy writing.

I loved it. Then again i'm not a "literature" guy that needs complex writing to be entertained.

By no means am I either, as is well documented in this thread. But I need a little more than "Then I did this. Then this happened. Then I did this because this. etc. etc."

 

[skol asylum]

Next up: Ready Player One

How is this? I have a couple of cross country flights over the next few days and have it lined up in the queue:

The Wind Through The Keyhole - King (currently halfway done)

Ready Player One - Cline

Snow Crash - Stephenson

It's okay. All of the references to my childhoold make it interesting, but it almost seems like the author is trying to cram a reference to every damn thing into the book.

Only about 60 pages in (slow reader), and I think the writing is shoddy and I'm not very interested in the main character yet.

yeah, totally agree with you here - I thought RP1 was dumb and contrived. I feel like most people that like it are so nostalgic for the pop culture references that they just ignore the crappy writing.

I just finished this and I thought it was pretty good. All the references too my youth didn't hurt, but even without those I don't think I would call it crappy writing.

I loved it. Then again i'm not a "literature" guy that needs complex writing to be entertained.

By no means am I either, as is well documented in this thread. But I need a little more than "Then I did this. Then this happened. Then I did this because this. etc. etc."

Sounds like a Mathew Reilly book i read.

 

[Swing 51]

Mary Doria Russell has a new book out called Epitaph, about the gunfight at the O.K Corral. In 2011 Russell wrote Doc, which presented a side of Doc Holliday that doesn't get much focus in books I've read or movies I've seen (dentistry, not much violence, Doc's realationship with Wyatt).

Doc was really good and I'll be scooping up Epitaph at some point.

 

[The_Man]

I'm not a huge Gaiman guy, but my 12-year-old daughter just read Vol. 1 of the graphic novel version of "The Graveyard Book." I snagged it after her, and it was great. Now getting Vol. 2 from the library and the actual novel is going to be the next selection of the book club my wife and I have with her.

 

[Chaos Commish]

Just finished The Conspiracy Against the Human Race. Thomas Ligotti, non-fiction, philosophy, pessimism. It's brilliant, recommended.

From the first review at Amazon:

This is the most bracing and affecting work of philosophical speculation I've ever read. Not for the weak of heart or mind, Mr. Ligotti's 'contrivance' is a dense and remarkable work of linguistic precision and poetic power, a horror story in which the uncanny monsters are us, and we've known it all along, in the backs of our minds: the self is an illusion, the body a gene-duplicating bio-robot, consciousness a tragic aberration that has imprisoned mankind to a life of suffering and reproduction. Here, the carnivorous universes of Lovecraft and Barron are shown to be not creations of fantastical speculation, but the universe in which we reside as deluded mistakes, born to suffer and die and make replicants to do the same.

Yup. I'll lighten it up before moving on to his fiction. Does Carl Hiaassen have anything fresh? I need to laugh after this one.

 

[Rushmore]

Just picked up a hardback copy of a book titled The Devil All The Time by Donald Ray Pollock. I read some reviews comparing his style to McCarthy and O'Connor, so I'm pretty anxious to dive into this one. It appears to be a pretty wild ride.

Realized that I had forgotten to report back on The Devil All The Time: I really enjoyed this one a lot! It was a very quick read that kept pace throughout the book. Pollack is definitely one that I will read again. I would certainly recommend this!

 

[Rushmore]

Just finished The Boy Who Drew Monsters by Keith Donahue. Decent little horror novel with multiple perspectives on the same story. Really liked the ending.

Now reading Knockemstiff by Donald Ray Pollock. Very different. Multiple stories in the same town featuring a different voice in each story, but recurring characters throughout. So far I like it.

Thumbs up for Knockemstiff, but it's not for the faint of heart. Incredibly corrupt and profane throughout. Worth the read, and it's a quick one.

Now onto The Wolf in Winter, the latest in John Connolly's Charlie Parker series.

Nice! I read The Devil All The Time last month. I had intended to pick up Knockemstiff first but the place I went to was out of stock. The Devil All The Time was there and I decided to just start with it instead. Knockemstiff definitely remains on my list after reading The Devil All The Time.

 

[Native]

Oh yeah, also been reading the Walt Longmire series by Craig Johnson - those are freaking awesome books, sort of like a northwestern James Lee Burke with a sense of humor.

Great TV series as well. Was on A&E but now picked up by Netflix.

 

[Native]

Just finished Shogun - massive 1200 page book by James Clavell about Fuedal Japan in the 1600's. One of the best books I've ever read.

 

[Possum]

Next up: Ready Player One

How is this? I have a couple of cross country flights over the next few days and have it lined up in the queue:

The Wind Through The Keyhole - King (currently halfway done)Ready Player One - ClineSnow Crash - Stephenson

It's okay. All of the references to my childhoold make it interesting, but it almost seems like the author is trying to cram a reference to every damn thing into the book.

Only about 60 pages in (slow reader), and I think the writing is shoddy and I'm not very interested in the main character yet.

yeah, totally agree with you here - I thought RP1 was dumb and contrived. I feel like most people that like it are so nostalgic for the pop culture references that they just ignore the crappy writing.

I just finished this and I thought it was pretty good. All the references too my youth didn't hurt, but even without those I don't think I would call it crappy writing.

I loved it. Then again i'm not a "literature" guy that needs complex writing to be entertained.

it's all good man, different strokes for different folks. I'm certainly no highbrow reader, I just didn't think it was a very good book, but I know I'm in the minority on that one.

 

[Possum]

recently finished The Ashes Of Pompei, the latest book in Sam Sisivath's "Babylon" series - I've mentioned this series here before and it's definitely worth checking out if you're into post-apocalyptic fiction. It's about a group of survivors following the one-night takeover of the world by night-walking, undead creatures with a hive mind, and it's got some parallels story-wise with stuff like 28 Days Later or the Walking Dead. I think the writing is absolutely awesome, lots of action, horror, black humor and great characters.

Just started Dune by Frank Herbert after I saw the David Lynch movie on cable the other day. Man, that thing hasn't held up well - Kyle MacLachlan is a goof with hilarious hair and I don't know if I can read the book without ruining it by constantly picturing him as Paul. I've always wanted to check out the novel since it's one of the classics, though, so I'm gonna give it my best shot.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

recently finished The Ashes Of Pompei, the latest book in Sam Sisivath's "Babylon" series - I've mentioned this series here before and it's definitely worth checking out if you're into post-apocalyptic fiction. It's about a group of survivors following the one-night takeover of the world by night-walking, undead creatures with a hive mind, and it's got some parallels story-wise with stuff like 28 Days Later or the Walking Dead. I think the writing is absolutely awesome, lots of action, horror, black humor and great characters.

Just started the first book in the series (probably on your recommendation). I like the premise a lot, but man........ the characters so far are straight out of Central Tropes IMO (at least, the cops are....don't have a read on the chick yet). I'm only a few chapters in, though, so hopefully they will get a little more interesting as we go. Anyway, I'll report back when I'm deeper into this thing.

I recently finished The Shotgun Arcana by RS Belcher. It's the 2nd book in his Golgotha series (Six Gun Tarot was the 1st, which I probably reviewed here a year or two ago). I guess it would be classified as "weird western with a helping of Lovecraft and steam punk". The way the series is presented so far, it's not one story spanning several books (like ASOIAF) but more stand-alone adventures set in the same place and using the same characters. What's happened before is mentioned and has some effect on the current story, but as yet it's not one overall arc.

This book has the same problems that last one had - it's trying to do too much. There are too many character POV for such a relatively short book and too many ideas crammed in the story. The good guys/gals are all totally bad-### in one way or another and the bad guys are completely evil (& there's way too many in this book - they all blend together). There are a few characters who are shaded towards gray a little more and, surprise!, they are the most interesting. But even they lean heavily "good".

On the plus side, the author has a crazy-good imagination. His world-building is fantastic. A lot is left unexplained but there are a zillion hints about how things work and past events scattered throughout that I imagine will be more fully filled in as the series goes. His writing style goes down easy, too.

 

[GoFishTN]

Next up: Ready Player One

How is this? I have a couple of cross country flights over the next few days and have it lined up in the queue:

The Wind Through The Keyhole - King (currently halfway done)

Ready Player One - Cline

Snow Crash - Stephenson

It's okay. All of the references to my childhoold make it interesting, but it almost seems like the author is trying to cram a reference to every damn thing into the book.

Only about 60 pages in (slow reader), and I think the writing is shoddy and I'm not very interested in the main character yet.

yeah, totally agree with you here - I thought RP1 was dumb and contrived. I feel like most people that like it are so nostalgic for the pop culture references that they just ignore the crappy writing.

I just finished this and I thought it was pretty good. All the references too my youth didn't hurt, but even without those I don't think I would call it crappy writing.

I loved it. Then again i'm not a "literature" guy that needs complex writing to be entertained.

By no means am I either, as is well documented in this thread. But I need a little more than "Then I did this. Then this happened. Then I did this because this. etc. etc."

I don't think it was quite that bad. But I will admit it seemed to be written in the YA style that has become so popular.

 

[Possum]

recently finished The Ashes Of Pompei, the latest book in Sam Sisivath's "Babylon" series - I've mentioned this series here before and it's definitely worth checking out if you're into post-apocalyptic fiction. It's about a group of survivors following the one-night takeover of the world by night-walking, undead creatures with a hive mind, and it's got some parallels story-wise with stuff like 28 Days Later or the Walking Dead. I think the writing is absolutely awesome, lots of action, horror, black humor and great characters.

Just started the first book in the series (probably on your recommendation). I like the premise a lot, but man........ the characters so far are straight out of Central Tropes IMO (at least, the cops are....don't have a read on the chick yet). I'm only a few chapters in, though, so hopefully they will get a little more interesting as we go. Anyway, I'll report back when I'm deeper into this thing.

cool - yeah, I thought the characterization felt a little flat at first too because you just get dropped right into the action without much backstory, but that got a lot better for me as the book moves along and you get better acquainted with the survivors. Let me know what you think when you're done.

 

[KarmaPolice]

Read the first couple Lincoln Rhyme books. Enjoyed them, but liked the first a little better for whatever reason.

Also read the first Dexter book. I liked the idea of the show, but hated his sister. Thought i would give the book a try, but apparently it is just the way she is written and still drove me nuts.

Also been slowly reading Underworld by Graham Hancock. Really fascinating stuff to think about and had been wanting to read this one after listening to him and Randall Carlson on the Joe Rogan podcast.

 

[Ilov80s]

Anyone like Graham Greene? Just got into him and he's fantastic. I'll likeky burn through most of his library this year. What a smart writer.

 

[Chaos Commish]

Anyone like Graham Greene? Just got into him and he's fantastic. I'll likeky burn through most of his library this year. What a smart writer.

He's a true great. Enjoy.

 

[Chaos Commish]

Also been slowly reading Underworld by Graham Hancock. Really fascinating stuff to think about and had been wanting to read this one after listening to him and Randall Carlson on the Joe Rogan podcast.

Now this Graham I'm not so sure about. It's pseudo-science quackery, right?

 

[KarmaPolice]

Also been slowly reading Underworld by Graham Hancock. Really fascinating stuff to think about and had been wanting to read this one after listening to him and Randall Carlson on the Joe Rogan podcast.

Now this Graham I'm not so sure about. It's pseudo-science quackery, right?

I dont put that label on much, but yes, i am sure it is dismissed as much.

Basically it is him diving off the coasts of Japan, India, Egypt, etc looking at structures that look to be manmade. Uses computer models of water levels/coastline geography ancient times to get a peg on possible dates for these things. Combined with sites of huge structures like the one in Turkey that are a lot older than expected and it is fun to think about. When Carlson is on the podcast, he talks about cataclysmic events around these times- flooding/asteroid strike.

The book is rambling but i like stuff like this.

 

[Gravity]

Somehow, I missed this thread all these years. Figured I'd give a quick rundown of some books I've read the past year or 2. I usually alternate between Fiction and then Non-Fiction as a way to hit up all the stuff I want to get too. So I'll list them in 2 categories:

Fiction:

-----------------

* Altered Carbon (Richard Morgan): Listing this first as this may just be my favorite book of all time. Cyber Punk Genre. Great writing. Gripping story. Gritty. Dirty. Violent. Sexy. Loved it. I recommend the whole series (3 total books) as they were all very good but nothing I have read compares to Altered Carbon.

* A Canticle for Leibowitz: Blah. I didn't see what the big deal was as this is considered a Sci-Fi Classic. Maybe it was over my head.

* World War Z: Thought this would be silly and I read it because my son told me too. Man was I surprised. Terrifically written. Very enjoyable. Much, much better than the movie.

* Lucifer's Hammer: A comet hits the earth causing the end of the world as we know it. Alternately gripping and slow moving. It was too long but often interesting.

* Bite (Richard Laymon): 2 people kill someone who they think was a vampire. Was he really? Is he actually dead? Fun, silly horror, quick read.

* Hyperion (Dan Simmons): Consistently rated as one of the best Sci-Fi books of all time. I thought it was very good. Not all time great however. It did stay with me for a while afterwards and that - to me - is the sign of a good book.

* Sandman Slim (Richard Kadrey): Not recommended. Guy comes back from Hell for payback. Great premise but I found it formulaic, predictible, and silly.

* Under The Dome (Stephen King): My first King book. Son told me it was great. I'm torn here. King is a masterful writer with a very good sense of humor. But the story moved so slowly and dragged on and on. And the ending really disappointed. Its my understanding this is typical King. Great writing but goes on forever and gets bogged down. One day I'll read The Stand but not anytime soon.

* The Postmortal (Drew Magary). The cure for aging has been found. People can live hundreds of years now. Sounds great. Until reality hits. Be careful watch you wish for. I loved this book. It really made me think a lot about aging, dying, how relationships would work if there was no end. Think how your marriage would be if instead of being together 40 years you were together 100's of years. What I also liked is that the protagonist of the story is a regular Joe like you and me. He's not heroic nor trying to change the world or anything. Its from a perspective of how the average guy would deal with being close to immortal.

* Assorted books by Edward Lee. This is extreme SplatterPunk. Think the most horrible things one person can do to another and then double it. That's Edward Lee. True Guilty Pleasure stuff. My favorites were The Minotauress and BigHead. Both hilarious, crazy fun, crazy violent, crazy sex.

Non-Fiction:

-----------

* Paradox of choice (Barry Schwartz): One of the few life changing books I heave read (along with No More Mr. Nice Guy, MMSL Primer, SGMethod, etc...). As a Maximizer who often gets paralyzed this spoke to me and has really helped me make decisions more smoothly and easily. I am a changed man. If you have trouble making decisions or often get Paralyses by Analysis read this book.

* Selfish Reasons to Have More Kids (Bryan Caplan): Almost makes my list of life changing books. Makes a very compelling argument to just relax as a parent and enjoy as much as possible without the stress as parents have almost no real influence on how their children turn out.

* Magic of Reality (Richard Dawkins): Written for Young Adults. it describes how we understand and know major fundamental principles of life/science. Like what are rainbows really, evolution, how did things start, etc... Dawkins is an excellent writer and coherently explains what we know and how. The section on rainbows is just fabulous as it really is an explanation of light, red-shifting, sound waves, distant galaxies, etc...

(Its also devastating to religion in a very subtle way. But one I found even sharper than The God Hypothesis and other "New Atheist" books. What he does is start each chapter with myth's that describe how something works and then he shows the actual science. For example, going back to the rainbow, he talks about the rainbow as portrayed by the Bible and then explains what a rainbow really is. He does this over and over with different myths and different cultures. What he is doing is blurring the lines between the myths of the bible and religion and the other myths in the world to show they are all just myths from a time before the science was understood. The stories in the Bible, he is implying, are just as fanciful as other legends from ancient times.)

* Why Beautiful People have More Daughters (Satoshi Kanazawa). Evo Psych. Fantastic. I know Kanazawa is controversial but I'm buying a lot of what he is selling. He holds no punches no matter how un-politically correct. Why guys love boobs and long blonde hair. "No" doesn't always mean No. Feminism is BS. Etc...

* Sex on Six Legs (Marlene Zuk). Life from the perspective of Insects. Fascinating. Discover how intelligent insects are. Zombie Cockroaches. Bees actually perform geometry and ants build complex social structures.

* What If (Randall Munroe). The XKCD comic strip guy answers crazy questions like What if a basball pitcher threw a baseball near the speed of light. I didn't love it. Yeah, I had the occasional laugh but it got very repetitive for me and nothing really jumped out or was too memorable.

* God, No! (Penn Jillette of Penn and Teller fame): Moving, Funny, poignant, emotional book. Thoroughly enjoyed it. Wasn't a huge Penn fan before but have big respect for him now.

 

[Uruk-Hai]

* Under The Dome (Stephen King): My first King book. Son told me it was great. I'm torn here. King is a masterful writer with a very good sense of humor. But the story moved so slowly and dragged on and on. And the ending really disappointed. Its my understanding this is typical King. Great writing but goes on forever and gets bogged down. One day I'll read The Stand but not anytime soon.

Yeah, that may not have been the best King to start with. I long ago made peace with King being a "the journey's the thing" kind of writer. The funny thing with him is, the longer the work, the harder time he seems to have ending it.

He is a terrific short story/novella writer, though. Try early collections like Night Shift or Skeleton Crew.

Also check out Different Seasons. While not really supernatural horror, it's really, really good. This is the collection that the movies Stand By Me & The Shawshank Redemption were sourced from.

Based on some of your list above, you may also like the stories King wrote as Richard Bachman.

 

[FUBAR]

Finished Eragon, not a bad read but wouldn't have read it without my 10yo wanting to read it together.

Started A Random Walk Down Wall Street this morning, should be somewhat interesting.

 

[KarmaPolice]

At work I have a couple of Ebert's books. I have been going back and forth between:

Awake in the Dark: The Best of Roger Ebert

and

A Horrible Experience of Unbearable Length: More Movies that Suck

Didn't read a ton of his stuff when he was alive. Mostly loved watching the show when I was a lot younger and would catch some of his written reviews here and there. Awake in the Dark has a lot of great stuff - reviews, interviews he did, essays about the movie industry. Just as telling to read what the critics like, it is great to have the opposite book with some of newer 0 to 2 star reviews of movies he hated. Highly recommend both of these books.

Speaking of King, I was looking at a list of his novels and realized how few of the early ones I haven't read, or hardly remember. With an author as popular as he is, it is hard to separate what you have read and what you have seen from movies based on his books. Thought it would be interesting to start at the beginning, so I am reading Carrie. Pretty sure that I have never read this one. Interesting format he used with the story intermingled with "clippings" from the White report and other articles from the event. About 1/2 way through and really liking it.

As I was reading this one, I remember thinking during a previous King book that he seems to foreshadow a bit too much. Feels like he toes the line an brings up what is coming so much that I feel that some of his endings tend to peter out - partly because he sometimes struggles with them, but partly because he mentions what is coming several times throughout the book. Of course I know what is coming in Carrie, but it seems like a lot of the first part of the book is bringing up the events of Prom night and the aftermath in a way that somebody reading it for the first time probably knows what is coming too. Am I making this up, or does he tend to do this in his books?

 

[shuke]

* A Canticle for Leibowitz: Blah. I didn't see what the big deal was as this is considered a Sci-Fi Classic. Maybe it was over my head.

I thought it was one of the worst books I've ever read.

 

[bentley]

I'm reading Being Wrong: Adventures in the Margin of Error and The Bully Pulpit: Theodore Roosevelt, William Howard Taft, and the Golden Age of Journalism right now.

Being Wrong is a business book that seems pretty intriguing. I highlighted this from the first chapter "...however disorienting, difficult or humbling our mistakes might be, it is ultimately wrongness, not rightness, that can teach us who we are."

Picked up The Bully Pulpit at the airport. It's off to a slow start. I've learned more about William Howard Taft than I ever knew, but the book hasn't gripped me.