Topic: What are you currently reading? (Read 479175 times)

Stephquiem · « **Reply #450 on:** 16 Mar 2011, 12:57 »

Evercrossed by Elizabeth Chandler.

I'm completely lost on why anyone felt this book needed to be written. The last one was written in 1995. What would possess someone to write a sequel to a series they'd finished satisfactorally (or satisfactorally enough, anyway) sixteen years ago? I think I'm reading it purely in the hope that it will not totally disappoint me like I think it will.

And... just for clarification: "Trilogy" still means "three," right? They didn't change the meaning since I last looked or anything? It doesn't now mean "four, more than likely five"?

scarred · « **Reply #451 on:** 19 Mar 2011, 12:13 »

just started A Clash of Kings.

Durin · « **Reply #452 on:** 24 Mar 2011, 12:54 »

The Character of Physical Law by Richard Feynman
Tess of the d'Urbervilles by Thomas Hardy
In the Aeroplane over the Sea by Kim Cooper (from the 33 1/3 series. This one came highly recommended so I decided to check it out)

Scarychips · « **Reply #453 on:** 24 Mar 2011, 15:22 »

Maus by Art Spiegelman.
A friend of mine lent it to me; she just fiished reading it for her english class. about graphic novels. I am jealous.

Ikrik · « **Reply #454 on:** 24 Mar 2011, 15:35 »

Man, it seems like every single month I'm hearing about someone who's reading Maus.

The Woman in White by Wilkie Collins
The Stranger by Camus

Avec · « **Reply #455 on:** 24 Mar 2011, 18:57 »

Does anyone know where I can get a french copy of Camus' the Stranger? Amazon and ebay are failing me.

pwhodges · « **Reply #456 on:** 25 Mar 2011, 00:23 »

Quote from: Avec on 24 Mar 2011, 18:57

Amazon and ebay are failing me.

Really? Amazon.ca and Amazon.fr both give L'Étranger as the first result when you search for just "Camus" (IME, Amazon logins work over all their sites).

Tom · « **Reply #457 on:** 25 Mar 2011, 01:59 »

Try a bookstore's online service. I found this easy-peasy on borders:
http://www.borders.com/online/store/TitleDetail?sku=0679720200

Zingoleb · « **Reply #458 on:** 04 Apr 2011, 12:22 »

I FINALLY grabbed a copy of American Gods by Neil Gaiman. He is seriously my favourite writer, so I can't wait to dig into this.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #459 on:** 04 Apr 2011, 13:57 »

I'm just about to finish The Adventures of Huckleburry Fin, which I've loved, to my surprise. I wasn't convinced at first but then slowly began to realise that it is masterfully written. Thank goodness for my Kindle, I'd never have picked it up in a library or a bookshop.

Kugai · « **Reply #460 on:** 04 Apr 2011, 18:40 »

Current focus of reading

Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy

You know, I've always felt that that book would make the mother of all war films.

Scarychips · « **Reply #461 on:** 07 Apr 2011, 18:22 »

I just finished reading Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. Really great graphic novel. Very well ilustrated, well written, I would recommend it.

celticgeek · « **Reply #462 on:** 07 Apr 2011, 19:48 »

A Writer's House In Wales, by Jan Morris. I recommend it highly.

Border Reiver · « **Reply #463 on:** 08 Apr 2011, 09:23 »

Quote from: Kugai on 04 Apr 2011, 18:40

Current focus of reading

Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy

You know, I've always felt that that book would make the mother of all war films.

Concur - much better written than most of the other books he wrote, this would be on the order of a movie like "A Bridge Too Far" in terms of length and breath of material, but the sheer breadth of the material and necesary sets would probably stymie most production companies.

StaedlerMars · « **Reply #464 on:** 08 Apr 2011, 14:49 »

I've started reading, for what is probably the 10th time, Anna Karenina. See whether I get further this time.

Kugai · « **Reply #465 on:** 08 Apr 2011, 17:21 »

Quote from: Border Reiver on 08 Apr 2011, 09:23

Quote from: Kugai on 04 Apr 2011, 18:40
Current focus of reading

Red Storm Rising by Tom Clancy

You know, I've always felt that that book would make the mother of all war films.

Concur - much better written than most of the other books he wrote, this would be on the order of a movie like "A Bridge Too Far" in terms of length and breath of material, but the sheer breadth of the material and necesary sets would probably stymie most production companies.

Probably true 10-15 or so years ago, but with the advances in CGI and Animation techniques that has gone on in the recent decade or so, it just might be a doable film these days.

Border Reiver · « **Reply #466 on:** 11 Apr 2011, 07:44 »

That and there are a lot of Warsaw Pact vehicles that could proabably be picked up for some of the shooting

Kugai · « **Reply #467 on:** 11 Apr 2011, 14:43 »

Quote from: Border Reiver on 11 Apr 2011, 07:44

That and there are a lot of Warsaw Pact vehicles that could proabably be picked up for some of the shooting

True enough. It would certainly give the rusting stuff a 'Good End' so to speak.

Johnny C · « **Reply #468 on:** 12 Apr 2011, 11:07 »

just read daniel handler's adverbs, some of the decisions he makes are cloying and obnoxious but for the most part the book is too lucid & incisive for that to really matter

Stephquiem · « **Reply #469 on:** 13 Apr 2011, 14:04 »

I just finished reading Where She Went by Gayle Forman. I can't decide if I'm mildly disappointed with it because my expectations were way too high, or because it was actually a let down.

At the moment, I'm reading The Complete Peanuts: 1979-1980 because I'm such an intellectual.

Kugai · « **Reply #470 on:** 14 Apr 2011, 15:30 »

Good grief!

Inlander · « **Reply #471 on:** 25 Apr 2011, 04:17 »

I've just finished reading A Game of Thrones. It's the first fantasy book I've read since I rushed through Lord of the Rings way back before the first film came out, and I really only read it because my curiosity was piqued by the HBO TV series and because all you nerds keep banging on about it.

It was good, definitely very gripping and at times exciting, and I've got the second book and I'm kind of eager to read it, but on the other hand I kind of feel like I can't quite face up to diving into the second book just yet (I only finished the first last night) because it's a thousand fucking pages long and I don't know that I can quite face up to immersing myself into that much oppressive violence and cruelty again just yet. Not that I think for a moment that the violence in the first book was exploitative, but it was very upsetting - as I think depictions of violence in art ought to be - and I could just do with a break, regardless of how excited I am to find out what happens next.

So for now I've gone back to my old stand-by, Muriel Spark, to read the Comforters. Of course Spark is not exactly the warmest or most loving of writers but she's hands-down one of the wittiest which comes as a great relief after George R. R. Martin's world. Take this exchange, for instance:

Quote

'. . . How has she been lately?'

'Miserable. She's gone away to some religious place in the north for a rest.'

'She won't get much of a rest in a religious place.'

'That's what I thought. But this is one of Mother's ideas. She gets together with her priests and builds these buildings. Then they dedicate them to a saint. Then mother sends her friends to stay in them.'

God I love Muriel Spark.

Dollface · « **Reply #472 on:** 06 Jun 2011, 00:31 »

I wish i was readig this (34 quids for a book gimme a break)
NSFW

Avec · « **Reply #473 on:** 06 Jun 2011, 07:43 »

Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon

Kugai · « **Reply #474 on:** 08 Jun 2011, 01:08 »

Freedoms Landing by Anne McCaffrey

Dollface · « **Reply #475 on:** 29 Jul 2011, 07:08 »

Scandanavian War Machine · « **Reply #476 on:** 29 Jul 2011, 11:55 »

currently about 20 or thirty percent through Darwin's Origin of Species

good read for sure, but it's kind of hard because he's trying to convince people that have never heard of natural selection that it's real, when i've known that natural selection was real for my entire life. so half the time, im saying "well duh" and then the other half i'm going "wait what?" This is due to both the archaic language he uses, and also his lack of data that we now have. For example, he makes almost no mention of mutation, which is a crucial element, and if he does he generally calls it something weird, or attributes it to something else. he doesn't even know about DNA! how quaint!

anyway, it's pretty awesome. one of those things i think everyone should try to read at some point, just because it's so important.

pretty much only reading it because A) i never have before, and B) because i've been having a hard time coming up with good fiction to read because of lack of funds and also nothing has really sounded that appealing to me.

Origin of Species was free, and i love science and evolution and stuff, so it was an easy sell

Blyss · « **Reply #477 on:** 31 Jul 2011, 17:05 »

Grave Peril - Book 3 of the Dresden Files, and now I have the whole series - or at least, what's been written so far. Going to be fun getting through them. One of my favorite series' ever.

IMMANotListening · « **Reply #478 on:** 02 Aug 2011, 05:17 »

Diamonds Are Forever by Ian Fleming.

I'm never really been impressed by James Bond novels but they are always my go-to for trashy fiction so...

satsugaikaze · « **Reply #479 on:** 08 Aug 2011, 17:57 »

So like I'm a couple chapters into A Feast for Crows and it's starting to dawn on me that R.R. Martin has been gradually trying to rid his writing of any sort of catharsis whatsoever

I mean, it's an entertaining read if you want to avoid specifics but honestly so much terrible shit happens in the past book or two that even events that might have been remotely positive have not been satisfying at all

Also some people I know have been wierdly gushing over how awesome a character Cersei is and I really don't get it

Even when Martin's diving into her head in some of the pov chapters she's still utterly predictable and just a flat Bitchy Narcissist Powergrubbing McBitchface ugh
Nice intrigue in the plot even though the reader knows half of what's happening before the other characters do so we get to hear about how Bran and Rickard and Arya and Sansa are dead for nearly two books when we all know that they aren't HURR

Tom · « **Reply #480 on:** 08 Aug 2011, 18:27 »

I'm only 1/6th through a Clash of Kings and what is it with the elder Baratheons and their crazy wives.

satsugaikaze · « **Reply #481 on:** 08 Aug 2011, 18:46 »

The longer you read through the series the more you'll realise that there are only a few wives in the story

There are the walking doormats, the batshit insane wives, and there are the widows

And if they don't end up dead by the end of the series they will have neatly slotted into one of those three

IMMANotListening · « **Reply #482 on:** 09 Aug 2011, 03:32 »

I've almost found it depressing as I'm getting through the series because so far with A Feast for Crows, nothing is getting done. At all.

I thought it was a little interesting to dive into Cersei's head even though it's not like finding out (through her head) that she's an uppity-super-bitchy-skank was groundbreaking. I do find it entertaining that although she knows how to 'play' the 'Game of Thrones', she has absolutely no idea how to keep winning and be in control of a very political environment. Especially how she alienates herself from Jaime and the rest of the Lannister family; trying to win over loyalty through 'special benefits'.

I just wish it would go back to the reader not knowing what's going on because 'X1 person trying to find X2 person, questions are they still alive' whilst 'X2 person is figuring out their own shit miles and miles away from where X1 person is' is just long-winded and unexciting.

Also, at this point, I would not be surprised if Martin decided to pull a 'EVERYBODY DIES' on the readers.

My Aim Is True · « **Reply #483 on:** 12 Aug 2011, 10:18 »

I'm taking a little break the usual lengthy novels I read, to focus on some short story collections and graphic novels.

Short stories -

Slow Learner - Thomas Pynchon
Last Evenings On Earth - Roberto Bolano

Graphic Novels -

Ego & Hubris - Harvey Pekar
Mid-Life - Joe Ollmann
Life In Pictures - Will Eisner
Ronin - Frank Miller
Big Baby - Charles Burns

My Aim Is True · « **Reply #484 on:** 12 Aug 2011, 10:28 »

Sorry for the double posting and quotes, but I've tried to make this halfway readable, while still responding to the most recent page (I won't dig up every single book I like form the previous 9 pages)

Quote from: Avec on 06 Jun 2011, 07:43

Gravity's Rainbow - Thomas Pynchon

Awesome. I read that about a year and a half ago. I'm going to go back SOMEDAY and read it again.

Quote from: horsefish on 15 Mar 2011, 19:17

Stuck Rubber Baby by Howard Cruse - a graphic novel about the Civil Rights movement and being gay in the 1960s rural South. Best graphic novel since Maus.

I read that a few months ago. The at bugged me at first, but I got used to it. Really good character development. Though the time period, and hence cultural subtext are differe, I really recommend you check out Mid-Life by Joe Ollmann. I feel like the personal nature is similar to Stuck Rubber Baby.

Quote from: Scarychips on 07 Apr 2011, 18:22

I just finished reading Asterios Polyp by David Mazzucchelli. Really great graphic novel. Very well ilustrated, well written, I would recommend it.

I've heard great things about that, been meaning to check it out.

ashashash · « **Reply #485 on:** 13 Aug 2011, 00:49 »

I'm also reading Gravity's Rainbow at the moment.

I'm going through all the Animorphs books too because I never finished the series when I was a kid... Book 24, represent.

My Aim Is True · « **Reply #486 on:** 13 Aug 2011, 04:22 »

They actually had animorphs when you were a kid... another thing to make me feel old.

nekowafer · « **Reply #487 on:** 13 Aug 2011, 09:02 »

Yeah Animorphs! I think I'm still on book 35-ish, but I took a break to read some Dresden Files.

tjradcliffe · « **Reply #488 on:** 02 Sep 2011, 20:10 »

"The Gods of Mars"--Edgar Rice Burroughs. Trashy fiction becomes literature when left to ferment long enough!

"Terminal World"--Alastair Reynolds. Never read Reynolds before, but this one grabbed me in the first few pages. Hope it holds up!

Just finished: "Julius Caesar"--Philip Freeman. Solid biography. though tends to become a bit "and then..." toward the end.

Zingoleb · « **Reply #489 on:** 17 Sep 2011, 22:46 »

The Transitive Vampire: A Handbook of Grammar for the Innocent, the Eager, and the Doomed

To be honest, I actually grabbed it because I thought it said The Transvestite Vampire.

Tom · « **Reply #490 on:** 18 Sep 2011, 00:17 »

Tbh, that's how I just read the title.

I'm currently 1/4 of the way through Embassytown. China Mieville is my fave.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #491 on:** 19 Sep 2011, 15:35 »

Quote from: Tom on 18 Sep 2011, 00:17

Tbh, that's how I just read the title.

For years I stubbornly claimed not to like Discworld. Then I read some Discworld by accident and realised how wrong I was. So at the moment I'm reading Unseen Academicals.

satsugaikaze · « **Reply #492 on:** 21 Sep 2011, 07:06 »

Finished A Dance With Dragons recently.

I dunno, dudes
Sometimes there's this unvalidated but niggling feeling whenever I put the book down that this whole story could have been written far more efficiently

VonKleist · « **Reply #493 on:** 22 Sep 2011, 13:45 »

Heinrich Böll - Als der Krieg ausbrach ("When the War Broke Out")

http://books.google.de/books?id=HdleNfKrcKAC&pg=PA568&lpg=PA568&dq=when+war+broke+out+b%C3%B6ll&source=bl&ots=V-CKVCwjvG&sig=vvWGZb_IArVPK9D2afCPuTFPbZ8&hl=de&ei=65x7Tq3xNYOZ8QOm0uTiCQ&sa=X&oi=book_result&ct=result&resnum=5&ved=0CEMQ6AEwBA#v=onepage&q&f=false

I´ve only just read the first 2 stories but it´s quite good.
I don't think I understand all the references but it is of a wry humor and disgust for the oppressive militarism.

Blyss · « **Reply #494 on:** 23 Sep 2011, 06:10 »

White Night - of the Dresden Files.

Can someone tell me how the hell Jim Butcher got so good? I swear it feels like I KNOW Dresden, instead of just reading about him in a book. The last character I gave that much of a shit about was Roland Deschain, of Gilead. It feels nice to care again.

IrrationalPie · « **Reply #495 on:** 24 Sep 2011, 03:37 »

Voltaire - Candide

Theriandros · « **Reply #496 on:** 28 Sep 2011, 19:28 »

Reading Crime and Punishment. Started it a few months ago, but my paperback was so old it fell apart after about 70 pages. Finally got a new copy a few days ago.

Zingoleb · « **Reply #497 on:** 29 Sep 2011, 14:44 »

Quote from: Barmymoo on 19 Sep 2011, 15:35

Quote from: Tom on 18 Sep 2011, 00:17
Tbh, that's how I just read the title.

For years I stubbornly claimed not to like Discworld.

Why would you claim that. Also, what does that have to do with the quote?

Kugai · « **Reply #498 on:** 29 Sep 2011, 18:24 »

Doing a bit of light reading with a couple of books at the moment

Sassinak by Anne McCaffrey and Elzabeth Moon

Dwellers In The Crucible by Margaret Wander Bonanno

Tom · « **Reply #499 on:** 30 Sep 2011, 03:51 »

Quote from: Zingoleb on 29 Sep 2011, 14:44

Quote from: Barmymoo on 19 Sep 2011, 15:35
Quote from: Tom on 18 Sep 2011, 00:17
Tbh, that's how I just read the title.
Also, what does that have to do with the quote?

Barmy was probably just saying she thought the same. She then tried to separate the two topics by dividing with a number of blank lines or maybe I'm reading to much into it and I should just get off the internet now.

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Author Topic: What are you currently reading? (Read 479175 times)

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