Topic: What are you currently reading? (Read 466895 times)

Blue Kitty · « **Reply #1050 on:** 05 May 2015, 18:25 »

I'm reading Howl's Moving Castle, and I feel like it fills in a lot of the holes in the movie.

Edguy · « **Reply #1051 on:** 20 May 2015, 21:23 »

Have anyone here read the the Witcher books? Are they well written? How do they compare to similar series such as Malazan Book of the Fallen or Song of Ice and Fire? Are the English translations good?

After all the amazing previews and trailers, and now reception, to the third game, I've been picking up the first two games. I've really taken a liking to the series, and I'm considering reading the books.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #1052 on:** 21 May 2015, 23:00 »

Now caught up on David Weber's Safehold series. The good guys are showing a definite dark streak now.

Active Madness · « **Reply #1053 on:** 27 May 2015, 02:00 »

Reading Chuck Palahniuk's "Doomed".

In recent years he's definitely relying more on shock value than writing quality.

Got to the requisite big shocking bit in Doomed this morning and it was just... eh. It's not shocking, it's not thought provoking, It's not titillating. It's not transgressive, it's just grubby.

Gladstone · « **Reply #1054 on:** 27 May 2015, 19:39 »

"Recent years" meaning since about 2007, but probably long before that. I read most of his novels after "Rant" out of sheer habit, but finally decided to stop after "Damned." Everything he writes just seems tired and half-assed, like he knows what he's expected to do and just barely cares enough to do it. I still think "Fight Club 2" is a giant joke, but nobody wants to be the first to admit it.

That said, I have his new collection of stories on hold at the library, but I'll probably just read one or two to confirm that he's still doing the same old shit.

Active Madness · « **Reply #1055 on:** 28 May 2015, 00:58 »

I loved Haunted and Rant, but the others since Lullabye have left me quite cold.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #1056 on:** 29 May 2015, 21:25 »

Just finished "Good Omens", Gaiman/Pratchett. Wish I'd read it long ago.

Kugai · « **Reply #1057 on:** 30 May 2015, 00:04 »

Daughter Of The Empire - Janny Wurtz

94ssd · « **Reply #1058 on:** 30 May 2015, 22:26 »

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert, set mainly in Hawaii's leper colony in the late 19th-mid 20th centuries.

Grognard · « **Reply #1059 on:** 01 Jun 2015, 15:04 »

Quote from: Kugai on 30 May 2015, 00:04

Daughter Of The Empire - Janny Wurtz

!!! A most EXCELLENT READ !!!
I highly recommend reading the entire trilogy.

Kugai · « **Reply #1060 on:** 02 Jun 2015, 17:08 »

I will be, I have them as well as The Riftwar Trilogy by Raymond E. Feist.

lepetitfromage · « **Reply #1061 on:** 09 Jun 2015, 18:41 »

Quote from: 94ssd on 30 May 2015, 22:26

Moloka'i by Alan Brennert, set mainly in Hawaii's leper colony in the late 19th-mid 20th centuries.

Whoaaaa....it blew my mind a little that you're reading this. He's my mom's cousin!

jwhouk · « **Reply #1062 on:** 10 Jun 2015, 05:27 »

Just finished a great (and funny!) book by someone from another message board: The City of Smoke And Mirrors.

It takes the dime detective novel, sets it on its ear and smacks it around a lot. Imagine your everyday gumshoe in a Gotham-like city - except the city is "protected" by a creature named the Vulture.

And your gumshoe is an armadillo.

94ssd · « **Reply #1063 on:** 22 Jun 2015, 08:03 »

Alan Cumming's memoir, Not My Father's Son

Quote from: lepetitfromage on 09 Jun 2015, 18:41

Whoaaaa....it blew my mind a little that you're reading this. He's my mom's cousin!

Well if you ever speak to him tell him I greatly enjoyed the book, especially the flow of time in the plot. Moloka'i is something I've been interested in ever since learning about St. Damien in Sunday school. And the perspective of a character who grew up in the colony and then was able to leave it was pretty awesome.

Aimless · « **Reply #1064 on:** 09 Aug 2015, 14:40 »

Reading The $100 Startup by Chris Guillebeau. excellent so far, review forthcoming

94ssd · « **Reply #1065 on:** 17 Aug 2015, 19:43 »

Slowly, By Thy Hand Unfurled by Romulus Linney. Also picked up Heathen Valley. I'm familiar with Linney's plays but hadn't had the pleasure of reading one of his novels before now. His writing style is very unique, very poetic although still in paragraphs.

It's amazing what gems professors will leave in piles marked "Free" in the hallways. I think at least a third of my bookshelf is filled with such finds.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #1066 on:** 21 Aug 2015, 13:22 »

I'm 15 pages into _Resilience_ by Eric Greitens and impressed as hell.

Loki · « **Reply #1067 on:** 22 Aug 2015, 16:40 »

I am currently reading "My Grandmother Asked Me to Tell You She's Sorry" ( http://books.simonandschuster.com/My-Grandmother-Asked-Me-to-Tell-You-Shes-Sorry/Fredrik-Backman/9781501115066 ). It's great (or the translation is, at any rate). I enjoy the easy unconvoluted sentences (which I suppose are there to emphasize this is told from the POV of a child).

Blue Kitty · « **Reply #1068 on:** 25 Aug 2015, 19:39 »

I finished Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy and now I'm reading the Restaurant at the End of the Universe. I loved Hitchhiker's and I'm loving Restaurant, they're both pretty short, fun reads.

BeoPuppy · « **Reply #1069 on:** 26 Aug 2015, 03:58 »

The unlikely pilgrimage of Harold Fry. Not as fun as advertised.
The city & the city. Good stuff, great idea.

Just finished The long utopia. I love this series. Great SF.

94ssd · « **Reply #1070 on:** 06 Sep 2015, 23:13 »

Had to read Wonder of the World, because it's one of the shows the theatre department is considering putting it on next year's mainstage season and I'm one of the students on the advisory committee.

Funny how David Lindsay-Abaire wrote one of my favorite plays (Rabbit Hole), which is a serious drama, and every other play of his I've had to read is faux-Expressionist bullshit. It's probably gonna get picked because certain people love it, and honestly I don't have a case against it much better than 'I think the plot, dialogue, and characters are all really stupid.' It has a favorable gender ratio which has been a big problem with show selections, and it would present some interesting but manageable technical challenges.

Loki · « **Reply #1071 on:** 11 Sep 2015, 15:33 »

I finished Shepherd's Crown yesterday. very bittersweet.
May he rest in peace.

Pilchard123 · « **Reply #1072 on:** 12 Sep 2015, 04:32 »

Shouldn't that be "Mayherestinpeace"?

Loki · « **Reply #1073 on:** 13 Sep 2015, 15:10 »

Why? Because the clacks signals don't contain spaces?

Pilchard123 · « **Reply #1074 on:** 14 Sep 2015, 00:06 »

Nah, I was thinking of Goodie Whemper and the chorus of "Maysherestinpeace" that goes around every time her name is mentioned.

sitnspin · « **Reply #1075 on:** 14 Sep 2015, 12:05 »

Currently reading "Overthrow: America's Century of Regime Change From Hawaii to Iraq". As if I didn't have a low enough opinion of the US government by virtue of my Native heritage.

downtowneddie · « **Reply #1076 on:** 18 Oct 2015, 22:32 »

A colleague of mine recommended Reclaiming Conversation: The Power of Talk in a Digital Age by Sherry Turkle. The idea is that we've sacrificed communication and conversation for just being connected. It's an interesting observation and I look forward to getting deeper into the book.

Blue Kitty · « **Reply #1077 on:** 31 Oct 2015, 03:45 »

Finishing up Ready Player One and then I'm on to the Nightvale book

94ssd · « **Reply #1078 on:** 31 Oct 2015, 04:31 »

At the suggestion of one of my professors, I'm about to start a parallel reading venture. The Kentucky Cycle, a series of 9 one-acts that won the Pulitzer for Drama in 1991, and an essay series that breaks down the playwright's reliance on stereotype as well as talks about other representations of Appalachia in the media.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #1079 on:** 22 Dec 2015, 21:16 »

"A Peace to End All Peace", by David Fromkin. It's about how the aftermath of World War 1 sowed dragon's teeth in the Middle East. The level of ignorance the decision makers showed is worse than you imagine. Often they did not know what their own governments were doing.

sitnspin · « **Reply #1080 on:** 22 Dec 2015, 23:05 »

Currently reading some old D&D novels from the 80s I picked up at a thrift store. Sweet slumbering Cthulhu they are so awful.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #1081 on:** 31 Dec 2015, 15:11 »

"I am Malala"

It gives a clear portrayal of her native culture and an angle on the recent history of the region that we don't normally get in the US.

Akima · « **Reply #1082 on:** 21 Jan 2016, 01:44 »

I just finished "JFK's Forgotten Crisis: Tibet, the CIA, and the Sino-Indian War"

I bought it for my Kindle on the basis of its strong reviews. It's good, and I recommend it. The perspective is American, of course, but it is no bad thing to get multiple views of events. The author makes use of recently declassified sources which shed interesting light on the barmy things the CIA was getting up to in China at the time.

Kugai · « **Reply #1083 on:** 21 Jan 2016, 12:38 »

Open Secrets: Star Trek Vanguard

Blue Kitty · « **Reply #1084 on:** 26 Jan 2016, 16:13 »

Gonna try reading On the Road by Jack Kerouac, but if I don't get into it I'll switch to Wake of Vultures by Lila Bowen

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #1085 on:** 31 Jan 2016, 01:15 »

Now going through the books Michael Santos wrote during his 27 years in Federal prisons, which are a bit more real than Orange is the New Black (the book).

If the system were designed to perpetuate itself by encouraging recidivism, it would look much like it does today. For example, having his studies for a degree interrupted by an "education" supervisor who forbade receiving books from the university wasn't conducive to preparing for a career outside.

Ditto policies that take away visiting privileges for months or years for minor breaches of regulations, cutting off the outside support network that's vital to staying out after release.

One side conclusion is to stay a million miles from the drug trade. One of Piper Kerman's fellow inmates was serving four years for answering her boyfriend's phone and taking messages from his customers.

ThePerilsOfDan · « **Reply #1086 on:** 01 Feb 2016, 15:32 »

Muster by J P Fahey

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #1087 on:** 15 Feb 2016, 21:57 »

Inside This Place, Not Of it
Narratives From Women's Prisons
Robin Levi and Ayelet Waldman

It's mistitled. The cover should simply say "TRIGGER WARNING". This book is the most painful sustained reading I've done in ten or fifteen years.

The horrors almost always begin long before the criminal record does. Over and over and over, the women were derailed in childhood by abuse. They're left unable to control their emotions, unable to assert themselves when a "friend" asks them to be an accomplice, unable to live without self-medicating illegally. Thus they are launched into the prison pipeline.

Some of them killed abusers, in circumstances that my training says were open and shut self-defense.

Once in prison, further sexual abuse is common, and medical neglect to the point of malpractice or beyond apparently universal.

Don't read this unless you have extraordinary emotional defense mechanisms.

Blue Kitty · « **Reply #1088 on:** 18 Feb 2016, 12:13 »

Finished A Wake of Vultures and now I'm on to The Brothers Cabal.

sitnspin · « **Reply #1089 on:** 18 Feb 2016, 12:25 »

Reading "The Varieties of Scientific Experience" by Carl Sagan.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #1090 on:** 22 Feb 2016, 23:27 »

"The Slumber Party From Hell"
Sue Ellen Allen

It's another prison memoir, mostly about creating meaning and spiritual development. Emotionally fragile people should skip the first couple of chapters about her cell mate dying of untreated leukemia while the prison nurse refused even to take her temperature.

sheenobu · « **Reply #1091 on:** 23 Feb 2016, 00:12 »

I'm working through the beginning of Mastermind: How To Think Like Sherlock Holmes by Maria Konnikova for the 100th time. I keep picking it up and not committing to finishing it.

As a valentines day present, I was given Girl Sex 101 by Allison Mood and KD Diamond. It keeps my attention a little more as it is a much easier read and has plenty of pictures.

Is it cold in here? · « **Reply #1092 on:** 24 Mar 2016, 20:04 »

"Freeing Tammy", Jody Heather.

"The New Jim Crow", Michelle Alexander.

Blue Kitty · « **Reply #1093 on:** 26 Mar 2016, 19:22 »

Finished No Country for Old Men and I can see why they took out certain parts for the movie.

Emoroffle · « **Reply #1094 on:** 30 Mar 2016, 04:08 »

I'm re-reading Pieta by Nanae Haruno, it's probably my favorite manga. I read it again every now and then, it deals with socials outcasts who meet at a therapist's office. It's a lesbian romance but deals with heavy stuff such as suicide. Although it is about a lesbian couple it doesn't focus on their sexuality, that is secondary to the problems they are experiencing. Fair warning, while I absolutely adore it, the story gets very dark at some points so avoid it if you have issues with suicide, parental abandonment, as well as physical and psychological abuse.

Aimless · « **Reply #1095 on:** 16 Apr 2016, 17:24 »

Best read of the week, for me: http://steve-yegge.blogspot.se/2008/10/universal-design-pattern.html?m=1

LeeC · « **Reply #1096 on:** 23 Jun 2016, 07:34 »

Reading "The illustrated manners book; a manual of good behavior and polite accomplishments" ("Thanks to Hark a Vagrant!") published in 1855. It is remarkably progressive of its time. Particularly around pages 111-114 about women and men. I wish I had a means of copying and pasting it here rather than transcribe it. Was very interesting.

sitnspin · « **Reply #1097 on:** 23 Jun 2016, 11:15 »

Quote

"In a true society, there are no husbands and wives, no lovers and mistresses, no owners and property with ear marks or finger marks, no masters and slaves; but free men and women of society, who meet in a certain sphere of relation, to contribute their utmost to each other's enjoyment. "

Edguy · « **Reply #1098 on:** 23 Jun 2016, 11:36 »

Andrzej Sapkowski - Season of Storms

Kugai · « **Reply #1099 on:** 23 Jun 2016, 15:23 »

Red Storm Rising - Tom Clancy

THESE FORUMS NOW CLOSED (read only)

Author Topic: What are you currently reading? (Read 466895 times)