I liked ready player one in book form, and then I listened to the audiobook version. I thought they couldn't have found a better reader than Wil Wheaton, he was perfect for it.
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Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (6 Viewers)
- Thread starter shuke
- Start date
timschochet
Footballguy
My favorite biography ever written is William Manchester's 3 volume The Last Lion about Winston Churchill. As good writing as I've read.
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
I made a goal for myself to read one book on each president in sequential order so I'll start off with your book on Washington by Chernow. I've also had my eye on1776 by McCullough.
ETA - Timmy's post about Churchhill reminds me that I should mention that I asolutely devour anything WW2 related.
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oso diablo
Footballguy
Ghost Soldiers, by Hampton Sides
about the American rescue raid on the POW camp in Bataan (Philippines) during WW2
Socrates11
Footballguy
Just finished The Wright Brothers by David McCullough. As always McCullough does an excellent job putting together a compelling narrative on historical events using peoples letters and other papers.
Highly recommend.
Highly recommend.
facook
Footballguy
Mobbin, look for Stephen Ambrose's works as well. D-Day, Citizen Soldiers, and Band of Brothers are all top notch. Undaunted Courage about Lewis and Clark was great too.
facook
Footballguy
Re: The Border - Almost felt like the ending was too easy and a copout. But to be fair at that point I have no idea how he could have ended it in any other way that wasn't completely depressing. Your thoughts?
Uruk-Hai
Footballguy
It felt like he wrote himself into a corner he didn't know how to get out of. Just said "#### it, I'm not going back and rewrite all of this" and ended it. I'm with you that I can see no possible satisfying ending with all that had come before.
Post your thoughts on River Of Souls when you're done. I think I reviewed it here a while back.
Brony
Footballguy
Just finished this over two flights this week. Right up my alley. As with past works, McCullough does a good job of keeping the story moving without getting bogged down in 'I did more research than you' excessive detail.
Swing 51
Footballguy
This was pretty underwhelming. Not terrible but didn't live up to the positive reviews IMO.
Don Quixote
Footballguy
Anybody else read this one yet? I tore through The Corrections and Freedom, but I'm having trouble getting into this one. I keep putting it down and picking it back up.
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STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
I loved this as well. (audio book)
Just finished this over two flights this week. Right up my alley. As with past works, McCullough does a good job of keeping the story moving without getting bogged down in 'I did more research than you' excessive detail.
STEADYMOBBIN 22
Footballguy
I appreciate the offer but regrettably I must decline. I wish I could concentrate long enough to read a full length book. No matter what I do I simply drift off and start thinking about 10 other things while still reading. 5 minutes into any book, no matter how engrossing and I will have read 10 pages and retained 20% of the words I read.
captain_amazing
Footballguy
Working on Heaven's Needle of the Ithelas series. The King's Road was really good, decent pace, good plot and good characters. Heaven's Needle is pretty different thus far - it's slow paced, but goes deeply into character backgrounds, understanding how magic works, the different gods and related stories/folk tales. It's an interesting ready for those who like fantasy, but you need a little patience with the story.
oso diablo
Footballguy
facook
Footballguy
I enjoy Corbett as a character but this was a strange book to me. Almost felt like the book was disjointed, with a couple of lead-ups: lead up to the actual mystery; solve mystery/adventure; lead up to future book(s). I didn't dislike it, but it's my least favorite of the 5. Not even close to being in the same league as Nightbird.
Swing 51
Footballguy
A Short History of Nearly Everything by Bill Bryson. I read A Walk in the Woods by Bryson and loved it so I'm sure I'll like this.
http://www.amazon.com/A-Short-History-Nearly-Everything/dp/076790818X
http://www.amazon.com/A-Short-History-Nearly-Everything/dp/076790818X
Joe Mammy
Footballguy
Yes to this, I binge read 19 straight Reachers and was mildly disappointed in the last 3. Make Me made up for it, very good. Also the Kindle short story "Small Wars" has brother Joe and is also very good.
Aerial Assault
Footballguy
Still stuck at the end of Game of Thrones. I really need to read more.
Continue with Ice & Fire series or find something better? Books that read fast are welcome.
Continue with Ice & Fire series or find something better? Books that read fast are welcome.
Sand
Footballguy
Ice and Fire is awesome, but not fast. Something quick? Of the stuff I've read lately I have enjoyed the heck out of The Martian, Ready Player One, and Red Rising.
If you were a teen in the 80s and haven't read Ready Player One definitely put it on your list. The other two are also superb.
Just Finished "Fall of Hyperion" - the sequel to Dan's Simmons excellent Hyperion.
Very disappointing. I felt like I read the first draft of the book where Simmon's dumped all his possible ideas and thoughts down but before he actually went and trimmed it down to a coherent, well-paced story.
If it was half as long (maybe even less that that) it could've been an OK book. Not great but tolerable. Instead it felt like hundreds of pages of characters pontificating and ruminating to themselves about life. Boring and tedious. The story itself just went on and on and lacked pacing and had very little actual action. It seemed like just filler based on the previous book. On occasion, there were some ideas that seemed on the brink of being really interesting but they always petered out.
Not recommended.
Very disappointing. I felt like I read the first draft of the book where Simmon's dumped all his possible ideas and thoughts down but before he actually went and trimmed it down to a coherent, well-paced story.
If it was half as long (maybe even less that that) it could've been an OK book. Not great but tolerable. Instead it felt like hundreds of pages of characters pontificating and ruminating to themselves about life. Boring and tedious. The story itself just went on and on and lacked pacing and had very little actual action. It seemed like just filler based on the previous book. On occasion, there were some ideas that seemed on the brink of being really interesting but they always petered out.
Not recommended.
Aerial Assault
Footballguy
Okay, thank you! I will finish GOT and then get these. I was most definitely a teen in the 80s.
cosjobs
Footballguy
I'd advise against it.
Start out small, stealing dogs or goats and if you're good enough, and don't get caught, maybe move on to horses.
lombardi
Footballguy
I got frustrated reading GoT. It's probably sacrilege to the Throners, or whatever they call themselves, but the books got progressively worse. I like a book with surprises and I don't mind killing off a popular character but when every single person you care about in a book gets wacked it starts getting old. It's almost like a device... write and awesome character then have them suddenly killed in a horrible way. It's only entertaining the first half dozen times.
And then when you're starting to look for some answers and at least turn the corner towards some kind of conclusions he keeps adding entire kingdoms and enormous plot points that you just feel will never end. Reading this book is like watching LOST all over again. It's starts great, awesome characters, you're really enjoying it but then you start getting the sense that they're pumping a few extra seasons than was intended and that they're never really going to answer all these questions and loose threads.
I read them all and I'm sure I'll keep reading them until he dies (because there is no way he is ever finishing or wrapping this thing up) but all the promise of the early books and the half dozen awesome scenes in every one of the books just isn't enough after a while. I had a hard time finishing and felt like things were getting a bit dull. Not to mention when a book comes out you look to see whose point of view is in it and if one of your favorite characters isn't here you know you have another 6 years to wait until that story picks up again.
I wish the books were trimmed of some of the fat and moving towards some kind of actual climax or ending.
lombardi
Footballguy
That's disappointing. I really enjoyed Hyperion and was excited to see what came next. I have a few books in the queue before it but it's coming up soon.
Did you think it was so bad you were sorry you read it at all? Was it worth trudging through just to see where they ended up?
lombardi
Footballguy
I second (or third or fourth) Ready Player One. Really fun book, especially if you grew up in that time period.Okay, thank you! I will finish GOT and then get these. I was most definitely a teen in the 80s.
facook
Footballguy
I think it's pretty universally accepted that Book 4 was not good, and Book 5 was only decent. 1-3 (and especially 3) were so excellent that it set an expectation Martin just couldn't meet. Couple that with the horrendously long waits for 4 and 5 and most everyone was super disappointed. However, I am one that did find 5 decent and I have hopes Martin is able to recover and redeem the series - though the schedule of the HBO show makes that seem unlikely.
lombardi
Footballguy
Seveneves finally came back up in my library queue and i was able to finish it.
It seemed like the consensus in the thread was that the first two thirds were good but the last third sucked. I had the opposite opinion. I really didn't enjoy the first two thirds nearly as much as the last third. I thought the first third was WAY too heavy on textbook like passages on astrophysics and engineering. One of Stephensons greatest qualities is his ability to weave really great exposition of complex ideas and concepts into the story without taking you OUT of that story. He writes these absorbing parenthetical passages and is able to bring you in and out of them within the context of the story and characters in a way that keeps the story rolling but you come away feeling like you really learned something interesting. However, in this book it was all about the same subject and I think it got a bit self-indulgent. He definitely studied up on a ton of astrophysics and future space travel/colonization hypothesis and then needed to put every single bit of it in his book. So much of it was long and dull and really took me out of the story. I couldn't wait to get past the more technical passages and back to the characters and the story, which I've NEVER felt before reading his novels.
In contrast, I loved the far future society he built based on what happened at the end of the second third (don't want to give much away).
I didn't enjoy it at first but I thought it really came on later. It's still probably my least favorite of his books (and I've read them all) but I'm still glad I read it if just to get to that third act.
It seemed like the consensus in the thread was that the first two thirds were good but the last third sucked. I had the opposite opinion. I really didn't enjoy the first two thirds nearly as much as the last third. I thought the first third was WAY too heavy on textbook like passages on astrophysics and engineering. One of Stephensons greatest qualities is his ability to weave really great exposition of complex ideas and concepts into the story without taking you OUT of that story. He writes these absorbing parenthetical passages and is able to bring you in and out of them within the context of the story and characters in a way that keeps the story rolling but you come away feeling like you really learned something interesting. However, in this book it was all about the same subject and I think it got a bit self-indulgent. He definitely studied up on a ton of astrophysics and future space travel/colonization hypothesis and then needed to put every single bit of it in his book. So much of it was long and dull and really took me out of the story. I couldn't wait to get past the more technical passages and back to the characters and the story, which I've NEVER felt before reading his novels.
In contrast, I loved the far future society he built based on what happened at the end of the second third (don't want to give much away).
Extrapolating those personality characteristics out to entire racial make-ups was pretty great. The actual far future science fiction was pretty original and had a lot of plausibility. I guess the very end was slightly muddled but I liked it, it showed that thousands of years later, after re-engineering the races and rebuilding our entire planet and society... people are still people, wars are still fought, and that pride, greed, and power are still at the heart of our national decisions. Good stuff. I just found it way more enjoyable and more pure sci-fi than the first two acts.
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facook
Footballguy
I didn't enjoy it at first but I thought it really came on later. It's still probably my least favorite of his books (and I've read them all) but I'm still glad I read it if just to get to that third act.
Worse than Anathem? I've given up on Anathem three times.
lombardi
Footballguy
I guess that's what it is for me, the last two books weren't "bad" but they paled in comparison to the first few. They just didn't live up, like watching the Matrix II and III. Probably not terrible movies, but they didn't deliver on the promise of the first movie and left everyone disappointed. Oh, and you have to wait half a decade between them.
It doesn't help that he seems to have a lot of animosity towards anyone who even questions when the next books comes out.
They're still compelling enough to want to keep reading, he really is a great writer and storyteller. Too bad he is too big for a decent editor to come in and really make these books amazing by trimming away the fat and moving the story forward. Happens to a lot of good writers, once they get bigger than their editors and have enough clout to "keep it all in there" their books start to suck. Classic example of this is Stephen King.
jfranco77
Footballguy
Currently reading The Victory Season (https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Victory_Season) - about the 1946 baseball season. It's pretty good so far, about 1/3 of the way in. Similar to Summer of '49 or October 1964 or Crazy '08, player history mixed with current events mixed with baseball as the book meanders through the season. Maybe 1/2 a step below those books but in the same vain.
lombardi
Footballguy
I didn't enjoy it at first but I thought it really came on later. It's still probably my least favorite of his books (and I've read them all) but I'm still glad I read it if just to get to that third act.
Worse than Anathem? I've given up on Anathem three times.
Worse than Anathem? I've given up on Anathem three times.
I do agree they're both at the bottom though.
facook
Footballguy
lombardi said:
Worse than Anathem? I've given up on Anathem three times.
I do agree they're both at the bottom though.
I need to just pick up Anathem at the used bookstore in paperback and plow through. There were parts of the Baroque Cycle I work d at to get to the parts I loved...maybe Anathem will be similar. I have had high hopes for Seveneves so your review is a little disappointing. Maybe I will like it more than you.
Crypto is in my top ten, loved Baroque Cycle and also really really liked Reamde.
lombardi
Footballguy
I actually liked Anathem. I found it wildly original and the merging of philosophy/theology with math/science created a really interesting world. The whole idea of the Avout and that entire society was just great. It wasn't as exciting as previous books and I would probably put it at the bottom of my list right above Seveneves, but I did enjoy it. Much like Seveneves, it was harder to get through but I felt it was worth it in the end. I liked Anathem a lot more than Seveneves though.
I do agree they're both at the bottom though.
I need to just pick up Anathem at the used bookstore in paperback and plow through. There were parts of the Baroque Cycle I work d at to get to the parts I loved...maybe Anathem will be similar. I have had high hopes for Seveneves so your review is a little disappointing. Maybe I will like it more than you. Crypto is in my top ten, loved Baroque Cycle and also really really liked Reamde.
I do agree they're both at the bottom though.
I need to just pick up Anathem at the used bookstore in paperback and plow through. There were parts of the Baroque Cycle I work d at to get to the parts I loved...maybe Anathem will be similar. I have had high hopes for Seveneves so your review is a little disappointing. Maybe I will like it more than you.
Crypto is in my top ten, loved Baroque Cycle and also really really liked Reamde.People said the same thing about Cormac McCarthy and the Road but I thought that was his best book by far and I've probably read half of what he has written. I know everyone loves Blood Meridian and it was definitely a spectacle, the Judge is an unforgettable character, but honestly, The Road had more of an actual emotional and relate-able appeal than any of his other novels to me. I've never read a book written with so much economy of words in my life, so much was shown and implied instead of told, it was masterful. However, because it was more fluid and accessible and easier to read than other stuff he has written (and because he was on Oprah) all of a sudden the book sucks and he is a sell out? I don't think so. His last two books were my favorite two books, I think he is getting better at telling the story and reaching inside you instead of just stringing together great scenes and compelling characters. He is writing less and saying more.
I think Stephenson is the opposite. I think he has lost some of that emotional engagement and is getting lost in his research and parentheticals. They're a great part of his writing but sometimes in Anathem and Seveneves they take over at the expense of the story. With those two novels book-ending Reamde maybe he is finding his way a bit.
I actually liked the Mongoliad stuff too but he was the primary writer on that. Those also needed some serious editing, but were enjoyable.
I would say Seveneves is more like Anathem than the Baroque cycle. There were some slower passages in the Cycle but I thought as a whole that entire trilogy was his masterpiece, it was amazing. Anything you had to push through was WELL worth it because right around the corner were 3 more amazing plot twists or a turn of phrase that made you stop and read it 2 or 3 more times because it was so good. I liked Anathem but it wasn't like that. Anathem and Seveneves were both books I at times had to force myself to continue to read and I was glad when they were finally over, but when I looked back i realized that I liked them a lot more than I thought I did. I liked the worlds he created in both books, i cared about the characters, and I really enjoyed some of the social commentary when I through about it. When the Baroque Cycle was done I was pissed there weren't 3 more giant volumes of it and I wanted more. I would read Anathem if you haven't, but don't expect the same payoff you get in Baroque or Crypto or Snow Crash.
lombardi
Footballguy
That's really a bummer. Such great stories and such a great first book in what you would think could be a great trilogy. I'm torn. I liked it so much I may still want to read it but if it was that bad, and I've heard it was that bad from a few different places, I don't want to waste my time.
Kind of like when someone slips and tells you the score when you have the game on your DVR. Do you watch anyway? Or just let it go and watch the highlights so you know what happened?
Brady Marino
Footballguy
I got halfway through the 2nd SOIAF books before I quit. I find the books to be a slog, and knowing that books 4-5 are ick, I lost interest.
cstu
Footballguy
Yikes, I'm in the middle of Hyperion right now. How is the 3rd book?
ETA: Did you read RTH immediately after Hyperion?
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chauncey
Footballguy
I started and finished The Black Box by Michael Connelly yesterday. I haven't read a Harry Bosch story in several years so it was a treat. Not one of the best in the series but still a good read if you like Bosch.
It seems like they could have flushed out more of the characters or Bosch's relationship with them.
Also, I haven't seen much mention anywhere here but Amazon put out a season back in Jan/Feb called Bosch and I think a second season is planned. Well worth watching if you are a fan.
It seems like they could have flushed out more of the characters or Bosch's relationship with them.
Also, I haven't seen much mention anywhere here but Amazon put out a season back in Jan/Feb called Bosch and I think a second season is planned. Well worth watching if you are a fan.
joker
Footballguy
Just finished Half a King by Joe Abercrombie, and it was fantastic. He's very much on my short list of favorite authors, as I'm a sucker for that gritty fantasy where the line between good and bad is often hard to distinguish. This new series is supposed to be meant for younger readers, but it works perfectly well for adults as well. I'm not sure if I should go on to the 2nd one (Half the World) or start another audiobook I have ready, Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell.
cstu
Footballguy
El Floppo
Footballguy
had jury duty the last two days, so finally had some good time to finish this. stunning prose- spare and yet complex and profound at the same time. very little dialogue, as most of it is the recollection spanning time of an older man- but the insight and ability to be desriptive physically and emotionally... wow. I think this would really appeal to any "nordic" men that are more about action and perception than discussion. the overall plot is a bit melodramatic, which brought the book down just a tiny little bit for me, but the quality of the writing had already elevated it to a high level for me. kinda sorta made me think of Carver... but it's been a while since I've read him, so maybe that's my brain playing tricks. big, big fan and completely recommend.
