Return of the Book Thread

[Murgos]

Also got that short story collection from Chuck Palahniuk.

The one where he is telling or at least retelling stories he's heard from other people or has happened to him personally?  That one was pretty good.

Just finished World War Z.  It was very good.

[schild]

I just finished JPod in about 6 hours. Fucking thing went by quick.

Good stuff. In the vein of Lucky Wander Boy but the writer was about twice as arrogant. He very obviously used the book to vent his own frustrations with society and such. Oh, and he wrote himself into it. And he eventually became a main character.

What a dick.

[Hoax]

So I gave Butcher a second and third chance with the whole Dresden thing.  That's enough for me.  I've got enough main character angst in my anime thank you very much.  Also the whole remind me every book how he is chivalrous to a fault blahblah and try to pretend he is some kind of flawed hero without making it believable is annoying to.  They have their moments and did get me through flights to and from Ohio but I'm going to drop the series.

I started Stephenson's first Baroque Cycle book, very interesting 50 pages in.  But I found I needed a goddamn computer handy to reference some of the historical/mathematical terms.  Its a bitch having attended very little college and not been in school for 5 years to remember a lot of that stuff.

I also in desperation picked up Gaiman's Stardust at a Border's in Ohio (couldn't find anything I had been looking for) it was a fun light read but similar to Neverwhere I wish he did more with it really.

Oh I also read the latest Battletech book, which even though it dealt with Clan Wolf (or whats left of them) was fun.  It sure seems like the outcome of the story arc is waaay to obvious for Battletech so I hope there are some surprises somewhere.  But it introduced a pretty entertaining and varied cast, which should make for interesting stories in the future.

[Arrrgh]

So are there any books you actually like?

[Ironwood]

World War Z is awesome.

Interesting.


I always thought this would make a really good movie, done properly.

[Krakrok]

LibraryThing has a reverse book suggesting thing. You put in a book you like and it gives you books that are polar opposites of it based on what people read. If you put in Hyperion or Ender's Game it gives you religious books. If you put in religious books it gives you scifi and fantasy.


Reading Fitzpatrick's War at the moment. It's a post-apoc cross between John Carter of Mars and Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy.

[Murgos]

So, if you were to put in say, a Wheel of Time book would it give you a concise, well written and finished work?  Because that would be useful...

[Johny Cee]

I also in desperation picked up Gaiman's Stardust at a Border's in Ohio (couldn't find anything I had been looking for) it was a fun light read but similar to Neverwhere I wish he did more with it really.

It's a style thing.  Generally,  Gaiman writes short breezy fiction that reads like a modern fable.  You either enjoy the minimalism,  or you find it underwritten.

Gaiman has done a couple more in depth books.  American Gods maintains the breezy style,  but its got alot of meat.  Same for the Sandman series,  which is really the only graphic novel I thought was superb.  Those two are probably tied for Gaiman's best work to date.

The storytelling in graphic novels just isn't my cup of tea, it seems.

Read a bunch of stuff,  most of the nonfiction not particularly gripping.  The only thing of note is John C. Wright's Fugitives of Chaos.  Second book in a trilogy,  started with Orphans of Chaos.

It's speculative fiction,  set in the modern world.  Follows five late teens kids who are the only students in a boarding school in an English manor.  All the kids are orphans,  none had names or could remember much about life before the school,  and they all start exhibiting strange abilities and perceptions of how the world works.  Don't want to say too much, because getting answers is alot of the fun.

Lots of takes on ancient myth, viewing the world through different lens of perception, mixed with literary and pop culture allusions.  And fun characters and dialogue,  very cleverly written.  Reminds me alot of a cross between Zelazny and Wolfe.

Some great lines, but my favorite:

"You're a big strong Irishman,  and she's English, so she gets to oppress you.  Okay?"

Got my grubby paws on one of the hardcover copies of Cook's Sung in Blood, too.  Mediocre book,  but I did cackle in glee when I found it stuffed in the Borders shelf.

On my radar:

Cook's brand new sequal to The Tyranny of the Night due in February
Reprint in hardcover of Cook's Passage at Arms,  military scifi that's Das Boot with a shitload of paranoia and Cook amoralism.  Due in March.
The sequal to The Lies of Locke Lamora,  which is basically pseudo-Renaissance heist/grifter fiction
Reapers Gale, from Erikson, due out some time next year.  It's supposedly finished and with the advance readers for them to check out now.

I'm sure there's a bunch of other stuff,  but cold medication is interfering with my memory.

[Ironwood]

LibraryThing has a reverse book suggesting thing. You put in a book you like and it gives you books that are polar opposites of it based on what people read. If you put in Hyperion or Ender's Game it gives you religious books. If you put in religious books it gives you scifi and fantasy.


Reading Fitzpatrick's War at the moment. It's a post-apoc cross between John Carter of Mars and Robin Hobb's Farseer Trilogy.

Um.  If you think Ender's Game wasn't a religious book, you didn't read it right.  Fuck, everything OSC does is a religious book.  The man's a nutjob.

[murdoc]

Cook's brand new sequal to The Tyranny of the Night due in February

I'm just wrapping up The Tyranny of the Night. Really liked it and probably the most careful I've read a book in a long time. There's so many factions and religions that I found it easy to get confused about who was fighting who over what.

Good stuff though, can't wait for the next one.

[Hoax]

I'm almost finished with John Steinbeck's Travels with Charley which I think is absolutely fantastic.  Somehow I have never read much Steinbeck so this has been a welcome surprise.  I picked up the book for free in a huge warehouse in Berkeley selling used office furniture.   

[Sky]

I had read all of Modesitt's Recluse Chronicles, but didn't realize he had another storyline set going so I'm reading Darkness right now which I think is like book 2 of 5 or something

Just about to finish up the first Corean book. Good stuff, Modesitt always seems to keep me interested in his writing. Looking forward to finishing up those.

Santa brought me the Cruel Wind compilation by Cook, so lots of good reading into the new year.

[WayAbvPar]

Got a copy of America: The Last Best Hope (Volume I): From the Age of Discovery to a World at War for Christmas (wasn't on my Amazon wish list, but oh well...). If you can get past the spin that Bennett uses occasionally, as well as the fact that he pulls most of his stuff from a very few sources (the first chapter has 60+ footnote citings, and all but a few are from 3 books), it is not a bad read. Makes me want to go read his source books though  :-D

[Abagadro]

Is that William "Be Virtuous But High Limit Slots are Okay" Bennett?

[WayAbvPar]

Aye. He is also Bill Bennett of radio fame (and also a Reagan/Bush I cabinet member).

[Johny Cee]

Cook's brand new sequal to The Tyranny of the Night due in February

I'm just wrapping up The Tyranny of the Night. Really liked it and probably the most careful I've read a book in a long time. There's so many factions and religions that I found it easy to get confused about who was fighting who over what.

Good stuff though, can't wait for the next one.

The world is pretty tightly based on Crusade-era Europe and Middle East,  with a pretty heavy eye to detail.  Such as,  the Cathar sect made it in as the Maysalens, etc.  Pretty fucking gutsy,  considering the way the direct analogues to Christians, Muslims, and Jews get going on slaughtering each other.

Charlie Huston's sequal to Already Dead, called No Dominion, is out now. 

Green's latest "Nightside" book is also out.  It's funny,  I find the Nightside books to be alot of fun and can't really stand the rest of his body of work.  Haven't even bothered to track down the Deathstalker books.

[Hoax]

If you have more then a passing interest in American Football esp. at the NCAA level you should check out Michael Lewis' The Blindside I'm just getting into it but really its a hell of a story.

[Johny Cee]

If you have more then a passing interest in American Football esp. at the NCAA level you should check out Michael Lewis' The Blindside I'm just getting into it but really its a hell of a story.

That is an interesting book.  Mixes some football evolution/strategy talk with a pretty amazing human interest story.  Read it a couple months ago because I kept seeing the author pop up talking about it (Daily Show, NPR, etc.).

[HaemishM]

Finished the (Not Even Close to) Concise book on Buddhism and picked up Joseph Campbell's Hero of a Thousand Faces. I recommend the book to any writers, and any religious fucknuts who think the Bible is a literal, completely original and unaltered document handed down from God himself.

[stray]

Campbell is cool and all, but if that was your goal, there is better fuel for a better fire. He was a generalist, influenced by modern literature, western history, and Jungian psychology more than actual religious studies (let alone Semetic relgious studies). I might be wrong, but he didn't have any more than a MA in English Literature. There's an entire world of works dealing with mythology, comparative religion, and anthropology that are superior to anything he wrote. You might as well use Frank Herbert as a means to debate religion.

Just introducing them to Source theory and the various Document hypotheses would do a better job at making them realize the literary nature of the Bible. Or better yet, just put an Oxford Annotated Bible in their hands. It softens the blow a bit.

[Furiously]

Just finished the Black Company series. Last book definately redeemed the series quite a bit. The first 4 or 5 books were decent then it went a bit south.

[Murgos]

Just finished the Black Company series. Last book definately redeemed the series quite a bit. The first 4 or 5 books were decent then it went a bit south.

He who would pun would pick a pocket.

[Velorath]

Finished reading Cell, by Stephen King tonight.  Decent book although its got it share of flaws like most of King's work.  I mostly just read his short story collections since the guy has a thousand great ideas for stories but can rarely give any of them a satisfying payoff at the end (so at least with short stories I don't have to invest a lot of time in them for nothing).  Enjoyable book, and I don't regret reading it, but I might have felt ripped off if I had paid the $10 price listed on the back cover (for a fucking paperback no less, and they wonder why people would rather watch TV than read a book) instead of borrowing the book from a co-worker.

[Lt.Dan]

I might have felt ripped off if I had paid the $10 price listed on the back cover (for a fucking paperback no less, and they wonder why people would rather watch TV than read a book) instead of borrowing the book from a co-worker.

Count yourself lucky.  In Australia a new release paperback is going to run you about $A22 to $A25.  Fuck that.  With a ribbon.  Currently $A1 buys about $US0.80.

[lamaros]

I might have felt ripped off if I had paid the $10 price listed on the back cover (for a fucking paperback no less, and they wonder why people would rather watch TV than read a book) instead of borrowing the book from a co-worker.

Count yourself lucky.  In Australia a new release paperback is going to run you about $A22 to $A25.  Fuck that.  With a ribbon.  Currently $A1 buys about $US0.80.

Why buy new books when you can get so many near new and old ones from op shops and second hand book stores.

I bought 13 books for $1.80 the other week.

I'm reading the Decameron atm, finally getting around to it, and it's hilarious and fun.

[Sky]

I'm into the fourth book of the Corean line by Modesitt. Good stuff, similar in a high-level way to the Recluse line, but that's a good thing imo. Fun fantasy that doesn't get too heavy.

[Murgos]

Did you really just say that Modesitt's Recluse didn't get too heavy?  By book 75 or whatever reading it was like trudging up hill though mud.

[Lt.Dan]

Count yourself lucky.  In Australia a new release paperback is going to run you about $A22 to $A25.  Fuck that.  With a ribbon.  Currently $A1 buys about $US0.80.

Why buy new books when you can get so many near new and old ones from op shops and second hand book stores.

I bought 13 books for $1.80 the other week.

The local library has been my salvation and it's free :)  Op shops don't typically have anything except for old westerns and grishams.  Second-hand shops are riding the wave and are charging around $10-15 for a used paperback.

[stray]

I've only started with the first book, but I figured some of you guys would be more interested in this:

Song of Ice and Fire + HBO

HBO turns 'Fire' into fantasy series
Cabler acquires rights to Martin's 'Ice'
By MICHAEL FLEMING

George R.R. Martin series
HBO has acquired the rights to turn George R.R. Martin's bestselling fantasy series "A Song of Fire and Ice" into a dramatic series to be written and exec produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

"Fire" is the first TV project for Benioff ("Troy") and Weiss ("Halo") and will shoot in Europe or New Zealand. Benioff and Weiss will write every episode of each season together save one, which the author (a former TV writer) will script.

The series will begin with the 1996 first book, "A Game of Thrones," and the intention is for each novel (they average 1,000 pages each) to fuel a season's worth of episodes. Martin has nearly finished the fifth installment, but won't complete the seven-book cycle until 2011.

The author will co-exec produce the series along with Management 360's Guymon Casady and Created By's Vince Gerardis.

If someone makes a whole new thread devoted to this, then just merge my post. Wasn't sure where else to put it...

[Sky]

Is each season going to be three years long?

[WayAbvPar]

I've only started with the first book, but I figured some of you guys would be more interested in this:

Song of Ice and Fire + HBO

HBO turns 'Fire' into fantasy series
Cabler acquires rights to Martin's 'Ice'
By MICHAEL FLEMING

George R.R. Martin series
HBO has acquired the rights to turn George R.R. Martin's bestselling fantasy series "A Song of Fire and Ice" into a dramatic series to be written and exec produced by David Benioff and D.B. Weiss.

"Fire" is the first TV project for Benioff ("Troy") and Weiss ("Halo") and will shoot in Europe or New Zealand. Benioff and Weiss will write every episode of each season together save one, which the author (a former TV writer) will script.

The series will begin with the 1996 first book, "A Game of Thrones," and the intention is for each novel (they average 1,000 pages each) to fuel a season's worth of episodes. Martin has nearly finished the fifth installment, but won't complete the seven-book cycle until 2011.

The author will co-exec produce the series along with Management 360's Guymon Casady and Created By's Vince Gerardis.

If someone makes a whole new thread devoted to this, then just merge my post. Wasn't sure where else to put it...

Holy FUCK! I guess I won't be canceling HBO any time soon. God I hope they don't fuck this up.

[stray]

More news to make you geeks happy:

Clooney and Sci Fi Channel making a Stephenson mini-series

Diamond Age, based on Neal Stephenson's best-selling novel The Diamond Age: Or a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, is a six-hour miniseries from Clooney and fellow executive producer Grant Heslov of Smokehouse Productions.

Never read it.

[lamaros]

Count yourself lucky.  In Australia a new release paperback is going to run you about $A22 to $A25.  Fuck that.  With a ribbon.  Currently $A1 buys about $US0.80.

Why buy new books when you can get so many near new and old ones from op shops and second hand book stores.

I bought 13 books for $1.80 the other week.

The local library has been my salvation and it's free :)  Op shops don't typically have anything except for old westerns and grishams.  Second-hand shops are riding the wave and are charging around $10-15 for a used paperback.

Damn, you are unlucky. I find books everywhere. And there is a GREAT second hand book shop in my area that only charges AU$4-6 for quality books (non fiction, poetry, childrens; heaps!).

[Chenghiz]

More news to make you geeks happy:

Clooney and Sci Fi Channel making a Stephenson mini-series

Diamond Age, based on Neal Stephenson's best-selling novel The Diamond Age: Or a Young Lady's Illustrated Primer, is a six-hour miniseries from Clooney and fellow executive producer Grant Heslov of Smokehouse Productions.

Never read it.

They should really do Snow Crash, not Diamond Age. DA is a lot more brainy than Snow Crash and less visual.

[stray]

DA is a lot more brainy than Snow Crash and less visual.

Then again, Clooney is the type of guy who can make films about Edward Murrow and Chuck Barris work.