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Whatcha readin now? (book, books, reading, read) (8 Viewers)

Just finished the Narnia books. I'd read a couple as a kid and liked them then. But now, it was a chore to get through them. I didn't care for the writing. I didn't like how he told the stories like he was narrating them to you, interjecting his own comments. It's like he disliked building suspense because he often ruins it by making comments that are like, "don't concern yourself it will all work out in the end." Or he'll say something about what the character does years after the current story, spoiling any suspense that they won't make it thorough.

 
A couple hundred pages in to DeLillo's Underworld. Liking it so far even tho I was warned not to read it before reading other DeLillo novels. :confused:

 
'Todd Andrews said:
'Swing 51 said:
'Todd Andrews said:
Almost done with short story collection Wild Child: and Other Stories by T. Coraghessan Boyle, one of my favorite fiction writers. Pretty great as usual.
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I'm assuming you've read Drop City? Does it live up to the hype?
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Not sure which hype you mean, but Drop City is a typical TC Boyle book: well written, darkly funny, and very interesting.
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Hype was wrong word to use. A friend has been raving about Drop City for years and I finally got around to it.But you're right - well written and darkly funny. When he introduced Alaska in to the plot it threw me for a loop but I ended up liking Cess and Pam better than the Drop City folks.

 
Just started in to Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings. Thing is a tome and a half. It will keep me occupied for a while. After that is Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea. NK is a fascinating country in an evil, :tfp: sort of way.

 
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'Don Quixote said:
Just downloaded Infinite Jest, which I've somehow never read. I'm apparently a glutton for long tomes.
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I'm about 25% through this one. Not sure how I feel about it yet. I don't think it's too complex or difficult to read; I just find it kind of boring so far. I'm sticking with it though.
 
'shuke said:
'shuke said:
Next up: The Cypress House by Michael Koryta
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This was okay. Characters seemed pretty forumulaic and for a large portion of the book there wasn't much building of suspense. Climax was pretty good, and there was some interesting supernatural stuff sprinkled in to what would have been a typical crime/suspense novel. I'll reluctantly give it a 6/10. Next up: The Night Country by Stewart O'Nan
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:blackdot: This looks interesting. Have you read anything else by him, shuke?

 
Elizabeth and Hazel: Two Women of Little Rock

Excellent, heart wrenching book about Elizabeth Eckford and Hazel Bryan, two women (15 at the time) captured in the most famous picture taken during the segregation of Central High School in 1957. Great book. I was educated and touched by it.

Followed that up with To Kill a Mockingbird, which I'm ashamed to admit I had never read. Wow! Awesome work of literature.

 
'Uruk-Hai said:
'shuke said:
'shuke said:
Next up: The Cypress House by Michael Koryta
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This was okay. Characters seemed pretty forumulaic and for a large portion of the book there wasn't much building of suspense. Climax was pretty good, and there was some interesting supernatural stuff sprinkled in to what would have been a typical crime/suspense novel. I'll reluctantly give it a 6/10. Next up: The Night Country by Stewart O'Nan
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:blackdot: This looks interesting. Have you read anything else by him, shuke?
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No. Grabbed this out of a stack my buddy was getting rid of because it looked interested. Just a little into it so far, it's told from the perspective of the dead kids. Definitely unique.
 
Finished Prince Of Thorns. Well-written, but the "hero" (he's an #######) is just a little too kick-### for his age. Nice concept, though, and I'll return.

Gonna break from that series and go to McCammon's newest Matthew Corbet ("Providence Rider").

 
'shuke said:
'Uruk-Hai said:
'shuke said:
'shuke said:
Next up: The Cypress House by Michael Koryta
Click to expand...
This was okay. Characters seemed pretty forumulaic and for a large portion of the book there wasn't much building of suspense. Climax was pretty good, and there was some interesting supernatural stuff sprinkled in to what would have been a typical crime/suspense novel. I'll reluctantly give it a 6/10. Next up: The Night Country by Stewart O'Nan
Click to expand...
:blackdot: This looks interesting. Have you read anything else by him, shuke?
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No. Grabbed this out of a stack my buddy was getting rid of because it looked interested. Just a little into it so far, it's told from the perspective of the dead kids. Definitely unique.
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Thanks. He certainly seems well-regarded
 
'Uruk-Hai said:
'shuke said:
'Uruk-Hai said:
'shuke said:
'shuke said:
Next up: The Cypress House by Michael Koryta
Click to expand...
This was okay. Characters seemed pretty forumulaic and for a large portion of the book there wasn't much building of suspense. Climax was pretty good, and there was some interesting supernatural stuff sprinkled in to what would have been a typical crime/suspense novel. I'll reluctantly give it a 6/10. Next up: The Night Country by Stewart O'Nan
Click to expand...
:blackdot: This looks interesting. Have you read anything else by him, shuke?
Click to expand...
No. Grabbed this out of a stack my buddy was getting rid of because it looked interested. Just a little into it so far, it's told from the perspective of the dead kids. Definitely unique.
Click to expand...
Thanks. He certainly seems well-regarded
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hey UH. Long time. How have you been my friend?
 
'cosjobs said:
'Uruk-Hai said:
'shuke said:
'Uruk-Hai said:
'shuke said:
'shuke said:
Next up: The Cypress House by Michael Koryta
Click to expand...
This was okay. Characters seemed pretty forumulaic and for a large portion of the book there wasn't much building of suspense. Climax was pretty good, and there was some interesting supernatural stuff sprinkled in to what would have been a typical crime/suspense novel. I'll reluctantly give it a 6/10. Next up: The Night Country by Stewart O'Nan
Click to expand...
:blackdot: This looks interesting. Have you read anything else by him, shuke?
Click to expand...
No. Grabbed this out of a stack my buddy was getting rid of because it looked interested. Just a little into it so far, it's told from the perspective of the dead kids. Definitely unique.
Click to expand...
Thanks. He certainly seems well-regarded
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hey UH. Long time. How have you been my friend?
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Doing well, GB. Been crazy the last year or so.
 
'Uruk-Hai said:
'cosjobs said:
'Uruk-Hai said:
'shuke said:
'Uruk-Hai said:
'shuke said:
'shuke said:
Next up: The Cypress House by Michael Koryta
Click to expand...
This was okay. Characters seemed pretty forumulaic and for a large portion of the book there wasn't much building of suspense. Climax was pretty good, and there was some interesting supernatural stuff sprinkled in to what would have been a typical crime/suspense novel. I'll reluctantly give it a 6/10. Next up: The Night Country by Stewart O'Nan
Click to expand...
:blackdot: This looks interesting. Have you read anything else by him, shuke?
Click to expand...
No. Grabbed this out of a stack my buddy was getting rid of because it looked interested. Just a little into it so far, it's told from the perspective of the dead kids. Definitely unique.
Click to expand...
Thanks. He certainly seems well-regarded
Click to expand...
hey UH. Long time. How have you been my friend?
Click to expand...
Doing well, GB. Been crazy the last year or so.
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same here. I was too busy to post here very often for a long time, now I post all the time because I am so overwhelmed, its my escape.
 
'Swing 51 said:
A couple hundred pages in to DeLillo's Underworld. Liking it so far even tho I was warned not to read it before reading other DeLillo novels. :confused:
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Underworld is a great book. Read some of his older stuff afterwards. DeLillo is an American master.Just finishing Canada by Richard Ford. If you like his other work you will like it. Slow pace but interesting and as always well written.
 
Recently finished Mister Slaughter by Robert McCammon. Really like the Matthew Corbett series.

1/4 of the way through 11/22/63 and love it so far.

 
'Todd Andrews said:
'Swing 51 said:
A couple hundred pages in to DeLillo's Underworld. Liking it so far even tho I was warned not to read it before reading other DeLillo novels. :confused:
Click to expand...
Underworld is a great book. Read some of his older stuff afterwards. DeLillo is an American master.Just finishing Canada by Richard Ford. If you like his other work you will like it. Slow pace but interesting and as always well written.
Click to expand...
I love Underworld, but also think it might be a rough first introduction. The opening sequence of the ballgame was initially its own novella and doesn't have much to do with the rest of the book - so you might begin to find it a little ponderous as you get in a little further. Maybe not, though. I would thoroughly recommend "Libra," DeLillo's JFK assassination book, to anyone.I cranked through all the "Game of Thrones" books over the last month or so. I thought the characterization was outstanding and really liked the world he created. I do think that GRRM - like JK Rowling in a couple of the books preceding the Harry Potter finale - got to a certain point where he was too big/successful to be edited anymore and the books got a little flabby and overlong. All the Free Cities of the East stuff bored me and wasn't nearly as fully a realized vision as is Westeros. Also, I got pretty tired of the shtick
where people die offstage and then turn out to not really be dead. In fact, I pretty much assume that anyone who seems to die is still alive unless they are literally and explicitly killed.
Right now, I am halfway through a truly fantastic book called "Gone Girl" about a husband who falls under suspicion following his wife's disappearance. It's like Tim O'Brien's "In the Lake of the Woods" - another great book - but take out all the Vietnam stuff and replace it with astute and darkly funny pop culture observations. I'm sitting there thinking about getting out of work early so I can keep reading it. Hopefully it doesn't disappoint in the second half.

 
'shuke said:
'The_Man said:
I cranked through all the "Game of Thrones" books over the last month or so.
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How is this possible?
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I just looked in my nook history and I bought the first one on April 14 and the last one on May 19th. It's definitely possible. I couldn't put it down. Not necessarily a good trait to be so consumed.
 
'Socrates11 said:
Friend of mine turned me onto the Sandman Slim books. Sandman Slim: A Novel

Read the first two and just started number 3. They read quick and are quite entertaining if you're into the supernatural and violence.
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Thanks for the advice, am picking the first Sandman Slim book up from the library.Just finished "Time and again" by Jack Finney, which was the book recommended by Stephen King at the end of 11/22/63. It was ok, but not recommended.

 
'JFT Ben said:
'Swing 51 said:
'JFT Ben said:
About to pick up King's 11/22/63 from the library, the last King book I read (Under the Dome) was good until the ending.
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I did not care for the second half of 11/22/63. The first half is awesome - if you've read a bunch of King classics you will recognize some characters. But, it seems like King doesn't know how to finish a book these days.
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Just finished this one. I don't feel quite that strongly about the second half, but agreed the last 20% or so felt forced or rushed.
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Agree with all of this.About 1/3 of the way through "The Family Corleone" and can't get into it. Slow so far.
 
Need some help identifying a sci fi book. I read the description a few months back and thought it would be a good book to read but never got to it and now forget the title and how I stumbled upon it. I remember it being a sci fi ish novel, takes place in the distant distant future, past the point of human extinction. Maybe some form of human is still able to exist in preserved samples of some sort? But whatever species exists now has a conflict and maybe some human elements have to be implemented or cloned??? Sorry I can't be of anymore help but would appreciate any help. It might have came up when I was searching Amazon recommended or Goodreads, in the same vein of newer sci fi like Existence. Thanks.

 
Just finished: R.A. Dickey's bio Wherever I Wind Up - covers deeper themes than the average sports bio, and i don't just mean the spiritual aspects. Well done.

Now: The Impeachment of Abraham Lincoln, by Stephen Carter - counter-factual history... what if Lincoln survives the Booth bullet? Really enjoying this. The chief plot line centers around not Lincoln, but a young, black, female law clerk on Lincoln's defense team.

 
One Hundred Years of Solitude

I figured I wanted to read some Marquez before he shuffles off, but boy is this a chore. OK, maybe that's a bit harsh, but the treatment of the family members is so superficial, the character development almost nonexistent, relying mostly on magical intervention or old saws (like the well-meaning activist grown weary with war and turning into the tyrant he hated). And the writing itself is not nearly as graceful as I'd hoped it would be. I'm about halfway into this. I'll finish, but I'm really hoping it gets better from here.

 
Been on a minibinge recently. In order:

The Providence Rider - Robert McCammon. The 4th installment in the Matthew Corbett series about a detective in 1700s New York. A fun read. Corbett can get a little too James Bondy for me sometimes and, as usual, there are several "in the nick of time" moments. But McCammon is at the top of his game and introduces some great new characters.

The Prophet - Michael Koryta. Unlike his last several books, there's no supernatural elements here. But I think it's he best-written book and he creates some really vivid characters. It's basically a haunted-by-the-past muder mystery tied in with HS football. Sounds strange, but it worked for me.

Zombie, Ohio - Scott Kenemore. Cool, hilarious, pretty short novel about a college professor who wakes up after a car wreck to find he's a zombie (no spoiler there, as he tells you that at the beginning), but still with human capabilities (he can still talk, for instance). He's able to fool his friends - for a while. It's told in first-person from the new zombie's perspective. This isn't a "serious" zombie book, there's there's a good amount of gore among the humor. It's one of those "what would YOU do?" stories. I'm about 1/2 way through but am enjoying it a lot.

 
'The_Man said:
'Todd Andrews said:
'Swing 51 said:
A couple hundred pages in to DeLillo's Underworld. Liking it so far even tho I was warned not to read it before reading other DeLillo novels. :confused:
Click to expand...
Underworld is a great book. Read some of his older stuff afterwards. DeLillo is an American master.Just finishing Canada by Richard Ford. If you like his other work you will like it. Slow pace but interesting and as always well written.
Click to expand...
I love Underworld, but also think it might be a rough first introduction. The opening sequence of the ballgame was initially its own novella and doesn't have much to do with the rest of the book - so you might begin to find it a little ponderous as you get in a little further. Maybe not, though. I would thoroughly recommend "Libra," DeLillo's JFK assassination book, to anyone.
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Maybe I should have tackled some other DeLillo books before Underworld. Really good in parts but could have been about 400 pages shorter.I see the critics loved it back in the day. Was nominated for Pulitzer, one of the best American novels in last 25 years (published in 1997), etc.Just don't get it. Maybe some of it was over my head.On to Jack Reacher Book #4 - Running Blind
 
'Swing 51 said:
'The_Man said:
'Todd Andrews said:
'Swing 51 said:
A couple hundred pages in to DeLillo's Underworld. Liking it so far even tho I was warned not to read it before reading other DeLillo novels. :confused:
Click to expand...
Underworld is a great book. Read some of his older stuff afterwards. DeLillo is an American master.Just finishing Canada by Richard Ford. If you like his other work you will like it. Slow pace but interesting and as always well written.
Click to expand...
I love Underworld, but also think it might be a rough first introduction. The opening sequence of the ballgame was initially its own novella and doesn't have much to do with the rest of the book - so you might begin to find it a little ponderous as you get in a little further. Maybe not, though. I would thoroughly recommend "Libra," DeLillo's JFK assassination book, to anyone.
Click to expand...
Just don't get it. Maybe some of it was over my head.On to Jack Reacher Book #4 - Running Blind
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;)
 
Recently finished 11/22/63. Very, very enjoyable book. Probably my favorite King book in the last 10 years or so. I agree the first half was better than the second, but I was perfectly satisfied with the conclusion.

Now reading Reamde by Neal Stephenson. Some of the techno-geek stuff gets a little cumbersome, but the underlying story/adventure/intrigue is a lot of fun.

 
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Stuck at about 40% complete of Reamde does the pace pick back up. Maybe just me but I got kind of bored. I enjoyed the beginning bit it just slowed down. Let me know how the rest goes and I may pick or back up.

Ready Player One was excellent which is why I grabbed it. Similar premise.

 
Finished the Narnia books. I'd read some of them as a kid and didn't remember much at all. I didn't care for the writing style, where it's like the author is just telling the stories. It reminded me of Peter Falk in "The Princess Bride" I didn't mind it in that movie but for these books I didn't like it. The ending was interesting. I don't think I'll be reading them again.

I'm halfway through reading "The Catcher in the Rye" for the first time. Didn't know much about the book other than the main character's name and he had a hunting cap. So far into the book Holden talks crap about everyone but his family. It just seems odd that he doesn't talk crap about his siblings and parents. He's very complimentary when discussing them. I'm curious to see if that changes.

 
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Recently finished The President and the Assassin, on the assassination of President McKinley. Part bio on McKinley and his time in office, and part story of the anarchy movement in the U.S. and worldwide at that time.

Now on Jean Edward Smith's bio on Eisenhower. Loved his bios on Grant and FDR. Enjoying it so far.

Really excited for this fall. A lot of great books coming out (or at least a lot of books by great authors). Here's a NYT preview.

It does not even mention some of the nonfiction coming out, such as Manchester's final volume on Churchill (completed posthumously).

 
I'm 25% into The Fellowship of the Ring, and it's just a lot of eating, sleeping and walking around, oh, and being spooked by a black cloaked rider.

:sleep:

I'm glad I saw the movies first.

 
Back into The Wheel of Time after a long hiatus.

Started Book 4 last night....long way to go, but I still like the series even though I hear it turns into a mind numbing borefest in the middle of the series.

 
I had to abort the third Jack Reacher book "Tripwire" yesterday. I enjoyed the first two Reacher books, but this one is a turd in comparison. I'll admit that I cheated a bit and read ahead and did a complete :rolleyes: when I read the ending.

I really doubt Tom Cruise can stop a bullet with his chest muscles, and yet, we're supposed to believe he's Reacher in a movie. Whatever. Also, you can't put private stocks on "The Exchange". And there really isn't a "French district" in St. Louis. Laclede's Landing (the area I THINK he's talking about) is pretty varied as far as influences go. I also read a review that gave away the ending of the next book, where he breaks a woman's neck by punching her. Sounds like a bad 80's action movie than a great work of literary art.
From what I'm reading about Lee Child, some say he kind if hit a rut starting with this book before picking up later.

Anyway, I've moved on to the second book of the Song of Ice and Fire series.

Edit:

He could be talking about the Soulard area, but I wouldn't call it overly-Frenchy and it's not on the riverfront (unless you're talking about warehouses and such)
 
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'GunslingerEnder said:
Stuck at about 40% complete of Reamde does the pace pick back up. Maybe just me but I got kind of bored. I enjoyed the beginning bit it just slowed down. Let me know how the rest goes and I may pick or back up.Ready Player One was excellent which is why I grabbed it. Similar premise.
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Well I'm at about 50% and loving it. I wonder if the stuff that bored you was the intricacies of the online game and how to launder money through it? That made me wanna hurl the book across the room. But I'm glad I stuck with it. The action in Xiamen China is completely engrossing. Stephenson manages to convince me to suspend disbelief over unbelievable coincidences, and each new character he brings into the action is interesting and sympathetic in his/her own way. My 2 cents anyway.I was a huge Neal Stephenson fan after Cryptonomicon and The Baroque Cycle. I tried Anathem and made it about 75 pages before giving up out of fear I might yawn myself to death (also got very tired of having to flip to the glossary every other paragraph to re-learn what some nonsense word meant). Enjoying Reamde enough I might try it again though. Anyone who read Ananthem have any input?
 
Oh, also very :rant: that GRRM has delayed Dance With Dragons in paperback. Waited a year to buy that in paperback (probably seems stupid, but the wife and I both love the series and she hates hardback tomes :unsure: ). Now have to wait until March of 2013 to get it. :censored: you George.

 
'Brady Marino said:
I had to abort the third Jack Reacher book "Tripwire" yesterday. I enjoyed the first two Reacher books, but this one is a turd in comparison. I'll admit that I cheated a bit and read ahead and did a complete :rolleyes: when I read the ending.

I really doubt Tom Cruise can stop a bullet with his chest muscles, and yet, we're supposed to believe he's Reacher in a movie. Whatever. Also, you can't put private stocks on "The Exchange". And there really isn't a "French district" in St. Louis. Laclede's Landing (the area I THINK he's talking about) is pretty varied as far as influences go. I also read a review that gave away the ending of the next book, where he breaks a woman's neck by punching her. Sounds like a bad 80's action movie than a great work of literary art.
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From what I'm reading about Lee Child, some say he kind if hit a rut starting with this book before picking up later.Anyway, I've moved on to the second book of the Song of Ice and Fire series.Edit:

He could be talking about the Soulard area, but I wouldn't call it overly-Frenchy and it's not on the riverfront (unless you're talking about warehouses and such)
Running Blind (Reacher Book #4) is the weakest of the series that I've read so far.
Agree on the bullet to chest that Reacher takes in Tripwire. I wonder if Lee Child did some research on that gun and found some instances of that happening IRL?
I'm about to begin The Devil in Silver by Victor LaValle:

Pepper is a rambunctious big man, minor-league troublemaker, working-class hero (in his own mind), and, suddenly, the surprised inmate of a budget-strapped mental institution in Queens, New York. He’s not mentally ill, but that doesn’t seem to matter.
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