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

Captain Fantastic said:
Thanks for the effort, facook! I really appreciate it (even if it didn't work  out).  :hifive:

It's funny. I actually received an email through my website the other day from a librarian in Dubuque, Iowa. He said one of their patrons had read Hostile Takeover and really enjoyed it. He was trying to find out when the next book is coming out so he could order it.

So at least the library in Dubuque is on board (and everyone in the literary world knows that Dubuque has been the springboard for success to every major novel written in the past century),   :lmao:
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Just started your book. 

I have been reading the Lonesome Dove books. Love me some McMurtry books. 

 
Another good deal - The Way of Kings (Sanderson) - $2.99.  This is a spectacular book by (arguably) the best fantasy/sci fi writer at present.

 
I've been reading Gaiman's Trigger Warning, which is a collection of short stories and poems. There's some seriously creepy stuff in there. I can't vouch for the poems, as I've skipped all of those.

I've put that aside for Cronin's City Of Mirrors (Book #3 of his Passage trilogy). Just starting it today. As with the last book, he uses a Biblical sort of format as a "previously on". 

After Cronin is Joe Hill's new one: Fire Man.

 
Don Quixote said:
Starting Adam Haslett's Imagine Me Gone.  I was looking forward to this one's release and early reviews have been great.
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Finished this one. Wonderfully written book. Its focus is on a family's members dealing with depression and other mental health issues, so not a light read, but is told with some humor too.

For something lighter after that, starting up on Paul Beatty's "The Sellout." Satirical novel about race and politics, involving a character arguing before the Supreme Court trying to bring back slavery.

 
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bosoxs45 said:
I finished reading Kurt Vonnegut's Slaughterhouse-Five.

Very entertaining book and highly recommend.
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Great book. Have you read any other KV? If you like his style and sense of humor, I think pretty much everything he's done is worth reading. I'd recommend Sirens of Titan as his next best.

 
Don Quixote said:
For something lighter after that, starting up on Paul Beatty's "The Sellout." Satirical novel about race and politics, involving a character arguing before the Supreme Court trying to bring back slavery.
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The Sellout ended up a quick holiday weekend read.  It had some funny moments and was entertaining enough -- reminded me a bit of A Confederacy of Dunces, down to the shtick getting kind of tiring for me about midway through though.

 
After catching up on The Passage and The Twelve in the weeks leading up to its release, I'm now reading Justin Cronin's trilogy finale The City of Mirrors. I like it so far, but...

You know how Cronin did a good job at handling the Before Virus and After Virus eras? Well, that completely flies out the window. He finally gets around to giving us Zero's backstory, but the problem is he just slaps it right in the middle of the book with a lousy set-up. And. It. Is. Long. And not only that, it's dry, boring, and I don't give a flying crap because Fanning wasn't likable even before the outbreak and I could give a #### less what he did at Harvard. It completely derails the flow of the story because you're stuck in a Zero slog for about 15-20% of the book. I skipped a bunch of it because I. Don't. Care. Feels like filler and may be a reason why it took Cronin so long to release the third book  because he may have run out of material with Peter, Alicia, etc.
 
Last night I finished Never Go Back aka Jack Reacher book #18. Kind of meh.

Next up: Hostile Takeover by some dbag named Derek Blount.

 
Enter, Night by Michael Rowe.  Vampires in a 1972 small Canadian town. Good, interesting, but not great.  If you like horror it's worth a read.

No reading The Three Body Problem.  Those of you in here that talked about it being hardcore sci-fi, man you weren't kidding.  I like it, but a lot of it I have to just let flow over me because I don't understand theoretical physics, or whatever the hell they are talking about.  Probably going to take a break to read The Mirror Thief by Martin Seay, which is on hold for me at the library.

 
Recently read: 

The sleep revolution / Ariana Huffington
decent book but can be summed up as "get adequate sleep which is probably more than you're getting, take electronics out of the bedroom, sleep with your partner, and naps are good".  Didn't really learn much here but it's a good reminder to pay attention and value your sleep. 

Born standing up / Martin, Steve

While Steve Martin isn't one of my favorite comedians, I respect his work and his biography is interesting enough for a short, light read. 

Team of teams / GEN McChrystal, Stanley

Another person I respect greatly, this is about the remaking of special operations and other complex organizations.  Informative and not too heavy. 

Currently reading bloodline by James Rollins.  I enjoyed one of his books before, just a solid fiction writer.

 
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Finished Herbert Hoover in the White House by Charles Rappleye last night.  From the title, I should have known that it focused mainly on the White House years, but the reviews and description had given me the impression that it was more of a full-life biography.  It did end up being the former.  He mentions some of his pre-Presidency activities in passing and as part of his 1928 campaign, but I could have used a bit more of that.  Interesting insights into Hoover's personality though.

Up next is Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing. Released today.  Getting "book of the summer"/"book of the year" type hype.

 
cstu said:
Dragged on and on for me.  Will be a Netflix series so I'll watch that.
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I'm in the last quarter of the book and hoping for a good ending.  This book is as much detective novel as it is sci fi,  I've never been a fan of the detective novel that just pieces and pieces and nothing makes sense and everything is a dead end, then WHAM! At the end it all comes together.  I like the story to be interesting all the way through and develop. 

I like the world he created, I like the protagonist and many of the characters.  I just wish more actually happened.  Hoping the ending pays off.

It should make a pretty cool series though.

 
Uruk-Hai said:
I've been reading Gaiman's Trigger Warning, which is a collection of short stories and poems. There's some seriously creepy stuff in there. I can't vouch for the poems, as I've skipped all of those.

I've put that aside for Cronin's City Of Mirrors (Book #3 of his Passage trilogy). Just starting it today. As with the last book, he uses a Biblical sort of format as a "previously on". 

After Cronin is Joe Hill's new one: Fire Man.
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Oh crap.  I didn't realize City of Mirrors is out.  Welp, there goes my free time.

 
Argh, was thinking of re-reading Dark Tower because of the movie hype but finally started The Passage but now End of Watch is coming out and my son wants me to read The People of Sparks at the same time as him.  May be a busy summer.

 
Worm said:
It's been so freaking long between the books I may have to start from the beginning again.
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I actually read The Passage and The Twelve right before City of Mirrors came out so I could be prepared. Cronin did take a while to release the last book...

and sadly, I think it shows in his writing a bit. The about 80% of the Zero backstory feels like filler.
 
Swing 51 said:
Last night I finished Never Go Back aka Jack Reacher book #18. Kind of meh.

Next up: Hostile Takeover by some dbag named Derek Blount.
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If Hostile Takeover even slightly exceeds "kind of meh" upon reading, please feel free to leave a review on Amazon saying "This dbag author Derek Blount outshines Lee Child."   :P

Thanks for the purchase. Hope it's worth your time!  :thanks:

 
Just started a Dance with Dragons, 5th in the Song of Fire & Ice series. Good lord these books are long & complicated.

 
The Fox was Ever the Hunter was tough to get into. It was like free verse poetry and was 80% mood. It was like reading a tone poem. I enjoy listening to a tone poem, but reading one doesn't do it for me. It was beautiful but needed more clear plot and characterization.

Next up is the complete short stories of Truman Capote. Love his style and look forward to this.

 
facook said:
No reading The Three Body Problem.  Those of you in here that talked about it being hardcore sci-fi, man you weren't kidding.  I like it, but a lot of it I have to just let flow over me because I don't understand theoretical physics, or whatever the hell they are talking about.  Probably going to take a break to read The Mirror Thief by Martin Seay, which is on hold for me at the library.
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1/3 of the way through "Three Body Problem".  I can't keep the character names straight.  Am I a racist?

 
Don Quixote said:
Up next is Yaa Gyasi's Homegoing. Released today.  Getting "book of the summer"/"book of the year" type hype.
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"Homegoing" was pretty good.  Maybe not quite book of the year, but I could see it making it onto some lists.  It is basically two hundred years of history told through the descendants of a family in Ghana -- with some of the family staying in Ghana, and some coming over to the US as slaves.  The book easily could have been twice as long as it was, but it packs a lot into 300 pages.

Speaking of books twice as long, downloaded Barkskins last night.  New Annie Proulx (Shipping News and Brokeback Mountain).  

 
https://www.amazon.com/Rise-Fall-American-Growth-Princeton/dp/0691147728

Wont have time during school to read a book such as this so this bummer I'm attempting to read 5-10 books. Although this is 1,000 pages on my iPad mini and I'm only really reading, for now, when I ride my stationary bike (about 30 pages of so each time). But, teaching APUSH, I need to give as much outside info as possible to the students. This book is helping with this time period. Periods 5 and 6 by AP standards. Lots of charts and things, which is something I could show the students later. I like it and I've only started chapter 5. 

 
wazoo11 said:
Has anyone read On the Road? Worth reading?
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 I have the opposite take from Shuke. I read it when I was about 20 and really liked it. Like "Catcher in the Rye" it seems to best resonate with younger people, but it's definitely worth reading since Kerouac is such a smart writer.

 
"I realized these were all the snapshots which our children would look at someday with wonder, thinking their parents had lived smooth, well-ordered lives and got up in the morning to walk proudly on the sidewalks of life, never dreaming the raggedy madness and riot of our actual lives, our actual night, the hell of it, the senseless emptiness."

####### genius 

 
Just finished The Mirror Thief by Martin Seay.  Got great reviews, some comparisons to David Mitchell and Umberto Eco due to the multi-time, multi-setting storyline.  Two of the three I really got into.  The third, set in 16th century Venice, bored me to tears.  I found myself reading twenty pages and having no earthly idea what had happened because my mind wandered the whole time.  Because that 1/3 of the story is so vital I can't really recommend it but the the writing, characters, and story-telling in the other 2/3 are fantastic.  Too bad.

 
Make sure to check your ebook accounts (kindle, nook, etc.) over the next few days. Apple lawsuit means lots of credits being distributed soon.

 
cap'n grunge said:
Make sure to check your ebook accounts (kindle, nook, etc.) over the next few days. Apple lawsuit means lots of credits being distributed soon.
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I got a little over $50 from Amazon. Got something coming from Barnes & Noble as well. Bought The Border Trilogy and Before the Fall.

 
I've bought a ton of ebooks from BN the last few years, always grabbing when on sale. Don't think there were that many during the period of the settlement though. 

 
cap'n grunge said:
Make sure to check your ebook accounts (kindle, nook, etc.) over the next few days. Apple lawsuit means lots of credits being distributed soon.
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anything supposed to be there for audible members?  I bought a book last night but didn't have any credits that were noticable

 
shuke said:
I wasn't impressed. But I read it as a thirtysomething.  May have been different if I was in my late teens.
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Same feeling I had halfway through. Ended up moving onto reading Infinite Jest by DFW. 

 
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