Topic: What are you currently reading? (Read 479155 times)

hedgie · « **Reply #950 on:** 19 Jul 2014, 18:42 »

Re-reading "Good Omens", also reading a book on the Empiricists (Locke, Berkeley, and Hume)

ev4n · « **Reply #951 on:** 22 Jul 2014, 16:38 »

Weekend was Spin, by Robert Charles Wilson. Now working through Nika Harper's Old Souls stories.

KOK · « **Reply #952 on:** 22 Jul 2014, 23:42 »

Good Omens may be the funniest book I ever read.

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #953 on:** 22 Jul 2014, 23:46 »

It is.

Currently reading The Girl Who Saved The King Of Sweden.

Aimless · « **Reply #954 on:** 24 Jul 2014, 11:33 »

Review of "The Signal and the Noise" forthcoming, until then here's a review (my first on Goodreads!) of "Zealot":

https://www.goodreads.com/review/show/1005676526

Noxx · « **Reply #955 on:** 25 Jul 2014, 11:37 »

Reading "The Icemaster", polar exploration historical nonfiction. Really it's just filler but it's mildly interesting.

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #956 on:** 27 Jul 2014, 08:49 »

Just read The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman in one go, in a warm garden.

I don't think I can recommend it enough. It's a stunning piece of art.

ev4n · « **Reply #957 on:** 28 Jul 2014, 03:52 »

I loved that story so much.

I'm currently in the middle of 3 books at once.
- A collection of stories told by home children
- Nika Harper's Echoes of Old Souls
- Tammy Salyer's Contract of Defiance

Noxx · « **Reply #958 on:** 31 Jul 2014, 21:27 »

Going back through classics, I picked up "West with the night" just about twenty years after my first reading of it.

SO good, wish it wouldn't end.

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #959 on:** 01 Aug 2014, 01:38 »

Quote from: BeoPuppy on 27 Jul 2014, 08:49

Just read The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman in one go, in a warm garden.

I don't think I can recommend it enough. It's a stunning piece of art.

On my strong suggestion my girlfriend read it and she was all like: yeah, 's allright, I suppose.

How? What? I don't even ... ?

ev4n · « **Reply #960 on:** 01 Aug 2014, 08:39 »

Are you sure she didn't accidentaly read American Gods? Because then the reaction would make sense....

sitnspin · « **Reply #961 on:** 01 Aug 2014, 11:48 »

That almost sounds like grounds for a breakup. I'm not sure I could continue dating a woman if our values were that far apart.

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #962 on:** 01 Aug 2014, 13:08 »

She thinks it's okay, the story does stay with you for a while, but she's just not blown away by it.

How the hell is that possible?

KOK · « **Reply #963 on:** 04 Aug 2014, 04:03 »

Quote from: ev4n on 01 Aug 2014, 08:39

Are you sure she didn't accidentaly read American Gods? Because then the reaction would make sense....

I thought we had a no trolling rule here.

Aimless · « **Reply #964 on:** 04 Aug 2014, 04:59 »

Quote from: BeoPuppy on 01 Aug 2014, 13:08

She thinks it's okay, the story does stay with you for a while, but she's just not blown away by it.

How the hell is that possible?

Is she a huge Neil Gaiman fan?

sitnspin · « **Reply #965 on:** 04 Aug 2014, 09:49 »

The only Gaiman book I've read that I didn't completely enjoy was Interworld. It did fail to grab me the way his other work did.

Blue Kitty · « **Reply #966 on:** 22 Aug 2014, 14:07 »

I finally finished the Golem and the Jinni, and it was really good. I assumed it was going to be a story about two people from different religions coming together in 19th century New York City, but was surprised that it was actually about a Golem and a Jinni

LeeC · « **Reply #967 on:** 29 Aug 2014, 09:19 »

So I finished up the second book in the Ravenor omnibus. It was a lot of fun and way more exciting than book 1. Some new characters, new factions. At one point there were 5 different factions (I simplifies them as the good guys, the bad guys, the evils guys, the cops, and pirates) that then morphed into 2 (The good guys and the bad guys) with a secret 3rd in the end. It was like 1 part cop drama with 1 part heist movie, a dash of love craft, a splash of x-men, and stuffed with warhammer 40k!

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #968 on:** 18 Sep 2014, 00:17 »

Just finished "Twilight of the Bombs" by Richard Rhodes.

Orkboy · « **Reply #969 on:** 18 Sep 2014, 02:37 »

Jim Butcher's Codex Alera series. Mr. Butcher is best known for his modern-fantasy series, The Dresden Files, but his foray into swords-and-horses fantasy is very compelling as well. The first book of the series, Furies of Calderon, takes a little while to get going as he introduces the setting, but the series as a whole delivers everything you could want. He's working on a Steampunk book, but i haven't heard anything definitive yet.

Barmymoo · « **Reply #970 on:** 18 Sep 2014, 09:37 »

I've just zipped through I am Malala, and am now on Clare Balding's Walking Home - I've seen both of them speak this week, and am enjoying reading the books in the context of having met them in person! Malala's book is an incredibly good introductory history of Pakistan (probably in no small measure thanks to Christina Lamb, who helped her write it) and Clare is even funnier than I had realised.

ev4n · « **Reply #971 on:** 18 Sep 2014, 10:08 »

I've had I am Malala sitting on my dresser forever, but I can't seem to pick it up.

Akima · « **Reply #972 on:** 21 Sep 2014, 19:08 »

I just finished The Martian by Andy Weir. I made a mental note to buy this book once it came out for the Kindle on the basis of the huge tick given to it by Howard Taylor in his blog, and frankly I was very disappointed. Fundamentally the problem is that the author completely failed to make me care about his protagonist.

(click to show/hide)

I was really looking forward to this book, because I'm so tired of lazy science-fiction that might as well have Harry Potter waving his wand in the engine-room, but the author's complete failure to engage me emotionally relegates it to second-rate in my opinion.

ev4n · « **Reply #973 on:** 23 Sep 2014, 06:46 »

That's too bad. I agree with your upsides, but found the narrator's propensity for sense of humour and for making really stupid mistakes engaging.

That said, I gamed with Andy Weir years ago, read his online comic religiously back in the day, so I may have been biased in favour of the book.

KOK · « **Reply #974 on:** 30 Sep 2014, 09:14 »

Saint-Exupéry: Terre des Homme (in Danish translation). He tells about his experience during the early days of mail flight, when motors were fragile and emergency landings were something you must always keep in mind.

evilQuälgeist · « **Reply #975 on:** 02 Oct 2014, 13:36 »

Andrzej Sapkowski's "Die Dame vom See" the last book of the witcher series

//Edit: Oh and Pact, how could I forget that?

Dalillama · « **Reply #976 on:** 10 Oct 2014, 14:20 »

I'm having a go at Thomas Piketty's Capital in the 21st Century, with George Macdonald Fraser's McAuslan for light entertainment. Also Bujold's Paladin of Souls (Sequel to Curse of Chalion), when all I've got with me is my phone.

SubaruStephen · « **Reply #977 on:** 20 Oct 2014, 18:42 »

Quote from: Akima on 21 Sep 2014, 19:08

I just finished The Martian by Andy Weir. I made a mental note to buy this book once it came out for the Kindle on the basis of the huge tick given to it by Howard Taylor in his blog, and frankly I was very disappointed. Fundamentally the problem is that the author completely failed to make me care about his protagonist.

(click to show/hide)
The technical challenges are well done, but the author conveys no sense of doubt that they will be overcome, or fear that the carboard-cutout plucky hero will not come through in the end. One of the other characters in the book sums up the protagonist as "a problem solver", and quite frankly he is presented as nothing else. There is a rather jarring change from the first-person point-of-view of the hero to third-person views of mission-control, NASA personel, Chinese rocket-scientists etc. This is done to show off more neat problem-solving stuff (and it was nice to see Chinese people both actively involved in the plot (Joss Whedon and Peter Hyams please note) and not simply as yellow-peril villains (Tom Clancy and any number of other Western writers in pretty much every genre ever)), but it blows any sense of the hero's isolation out of the airlock.

I was really looking forward to this book, because I'm so tired of lazy science-fiction that might as well have Harry Potter waving his wand in the engine-room, but the author's complete failure to engage me emotionally relegates it to second-rate in my opinion.

I just started this one (didn't click on the spoiler button).

celticgeek · « **Reply #978 on:** 22 Oct 2014, 15:38 »

I have just finished "Simple Dreams - A Musical Memoir" by Linda Ronstadt. An interesting look at her influences and her music, with comments on the music scene of her time.

Also just finished "The Pluto Files" by Neil DeGrasse Tyson. A very fun look at the demotion of Poor Poor Pitiful Planet Pluto. (Apologies to Linda and Warren Zevon.)

ev4n · « **Reply #979 on:** 28 Oct 2014, 05:13 »

I read the latest Dresden Files book last night. It's been something like 14 books, and Dresden seems to be to be in more and more trouble with every book. I don't know if that's a credit to the writer, or the opposite.

Welu · « **Reply #980 on:** 13 Nov 2014, 12:15 »

I just finished Awoken. It is Twilight with Cthulu. It's glorious. A review I saw described it as "The Room of books" and I agree with that sentiment. Also I am aware of the book's writing process but don't want to get too into it if anyone decides to look into the book.

Now I am on to Chameleon Moon which I ~~demand you all buy~~ HIGHLY RECOMMEND. Not just because my friend wrote it, although I wouldn't hold it against you if you did it for that reason, but because I'm only a couple chapters in and it is so good. I'm loving the characters and world building.

KOK · « **Reply #981 on:** 06 Dec 2014, 11:33 »

HC Andersen Mit eget Eventyr
and
Herodotos The Histories

The Seldom Killer · « **Reply #982 on:** 08 Dec 2014, 06:29 »

Bit of a reading slump but now trying to decide between The Ocean at the End of the Lane - Neil Gamain (comments upthread noted), Bone Clocks - David Mitchell and The Peripheral - William Gibson.

I feel Bone Clocks will win out.

Also Gary Spencer Millidge has finally gotten his act together and gotten a new episode of Strangehaven out. The clearly means I need to fully re-read the first three trades.

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #983 on:** 08 Dec 2014, 10:28 »

Moab is my washpot.

BenRG · « **Reply #984 on:** 08 Dec 2014, 11:51 »

All the Weyrs of Pern by Anne McCaffery. IMHO, the last Pern book she wrote before age started seriously eating into her ability to maintain internal consistency in her stories.

Kugai · « **Reply #985 on:** 08 Dec 2014, 21:59 »

Quote from: BenRG on 08 Dec 2014, 11:51

All the Weyrs of Pern by Anne McCaffery. IMHO, the last Pern book she wrote before age started seriously eating into her ability to maintain internal consistency in her stories.

Heh, started reading the Talent Series a week ago - in reverse order.

- Just finished The Tower and The Hive and am moving on to Lyons Pride tonight.

As well as reading some of my fave Online Fiction at The Athenaeum.

Blue Kitty · « **Reply #986 on:** 11 Dec 2014, 19:06 »

I'm currently reading the Left Hand of Darkness, after that it's either Bird Box or Wolf in White Van

sitnspin · « **Reply #987 on:** 12 Dec 2014, 00:21 »

Quote from: Blue Kitty on 11 Dec 2014, 19:06

I'm currently reading the Left Hand of Darkness, after that it's either Bird Box or Wolf in White Van

I love that book, anything by Le Guin, really.

Currently reading "Shift" the second volume of the Silo Series.

The Seldom Killer · « **Reply #988 on:** 17 Dec 2014, 14:57 »

Bluegh...

Just finished Bone Clocks - David Mitchell and having that horrible transition of Fiction Decompression where you have to adjust to not loving in book world and the world around you seems a less real and more hollow and grey.

94ssd · « **Reply #989 on:** 22 Dec 2014, 23:07 »

The Aquariums of Pyongyang, which is about life in a North Korean gulag. I actually had put it on reserve at the library before the recent movie situation because a friend recommended it.

~~Schmorgluck~~ · « **Reply #990 on:** 23 Dec 2014, 13:10 »

Quote from: Blue Kitty on 11 Dec 2014, 19:06

I'm currently reading the Left Hand of Darkness

Oh, I've been wanting to reread it ever since I attended a "class" in a sci-fi con, which was about the figure of the Visiting Stranger in Le Guin's work, with a strong emphasis on Genly Ai (the scholar who lead the class noted that "Ai" sounds like "eye", which may or may not be a coincidence).

I just finished reading the Mistborn Trilogy, by Brandon Sanderson. I'm currently reading The Alloy of Law, set in the same universe. Very interesting take on fantasy, with its following of tightly rule-based magic.

After that I'll go for Icare, a manga written by Moebius and Jean Annestay, and drawn by Jirō Taniguchi. I borrowed it from my local library. As far as I know, it has only been published in Japanese, French, and Italian.

And after that, well, I also borrowed the integral edition of Inspector Canardo by Benoît Sokal. Been years since I read it.

LeeC · « **Reply #991 on:** 23 Dec 2014, 14:05 »

I read Dune. Way better than the movie.

Orkboy · « **Reply #992 on:** 25 Dec 2014, 18:11 »

I'm finally reading the Song of Ice and Fire series. I don't want to get ahead of the show, though. Dramatic plot twists are much more dramatic on TV, where you can actually see everyone you like die horribly.

94ssd · « **Reply #993 on:** 25 Dec 2014, 20:01 »

Quote from: Orkboy on 25 Dec 2014, 18:11

I'm finally reading the Song of Ice and Fire series. I don't want to get ahead of the show, though. Dramatic plot twists are much more dramatic on TV, where you can actually see everyone you like die horribly.

The show is starting to (partially) run ahead of the books starting next season. Things have gotten confusing.

Orkboy · « **Reply #994 on:** 25 Dec 2014, 20:09 »

I'm most of the way through book 2, and the differences are starting to build up. For example, weasel soup.

Gladstone · « **Reply #995 on:** 01 Jan 2015, 21:38 »

Started reading Don Quixote earlier today. I haven't read it before, and, save for watching that Wishbone episode on PBS when I was a kid, I don't know anything about the story at all. All I really remember is the tilting-at-windmills bit, which I just read, and so the next 900 pages are a complete mystery to me. No spoilers!

(Kidding. It's a 400-year-old book, spoil as much as you want, I won't get mad.)

Pilchard123 · « **Reply #996 on:** 02 Jan 2015, 00:19 »

The butler did it.

Gladstone · « **Reply #997 on:** 02 Jan 2015, 16:08 »

He was dead the whole time!

Kugai · « **Reply #998 on:** 02 Jan 2015, 20:48 »

The Windmills are a lie.

Pilchard123 · « **Reply #999 on:** 02 Jan 2015, 23:38 »

It's a cookbook! It's a cookbook!

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: What are you currently reading? (Read 479155 times)