What Are You Reading 2013 - Page 53

YoucriedWolf

Sweden1456 Posts

March 25 2013 09:45 GMT

#1041

The books revolving around Enders storyline are good and worthwhile. The books about Bean after "Enders shadow" are decent at best imo.
But don't listen to me, speaker for the dead is by far my favorite book.

Meadowlark

United States349 Posts

March 26 2013 01:04 GMT

#1042

Just finishing up:
Lolita by Vladamir Nabokov

It's about a pedophile and his relationship with his 12 year-old lover; a little sick, but a great read.

Currently reading:
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

It's a pretty bizarre book, and quite hefty at that, but I'm loving it so far. Involves tennis, drugs, and a great deal of people getting pulled up when they try to pull down things that are heavier than them.

Up next:
The Crying of Lot 49 by Thomas Pynchon

I've read Pynchon before, and this is one of his more famous (and blessedly short) novels. Should be fun.

GettingIt

1656 Posts

March 26 2013 01:10 GMT

#1043

Just checked out Orson Scott Card's new book about the First Formic War which is a prequel to Ender's Game.

dmnum

Brazil6910 Posts

March 26 2013 03:58 GMT

#1044

On March 25 2013 06:55 ghrur wrote:

Show nested quote +

Lol, we seem to read the same books or something. I've also read Brothers Karamazov but not Crime and Punishment. It was incredible. I loved the Pevear and Volokhonsky translation, and The Grand Inquisitor especially. Please tell me what you think of Crime and Punishment.

Meanwhile, I'll be working on the latest ASOIAF book: A Dance with Dragons. ^_^

I liked "Rebellion" more than "The Grand Inquisitor" because it summed up perfectly some of my thoughts about god.

I'm only getting to the third part of Crime and Punishment(I'm about 200 of 500 pages through) and I'm enjoying it a lot. However I can't say anything about translations since I'm reading it in portuguese.

Enjoy ADWD. I found it pretty good. Not better than the first 3 books, which were all fantastic, but definitely an improvement from AFFC.

SeinGalton

South Africa387 Posts

March 26 2013 06:34 GMT

#1045

On March 25 2013 18:21 Raptor4790 wrote:

Show nested quote +

I love that book. Fantastic read.

Just finished it, and yes it is indeed a great book. I particularly enjoyed the second half of the book.

On March 26 2013 10:04 Meadowlark wrote:
Just finishing up:
Lolita by Vladamir Nabokov

It's about a pedophile and his relationship with his 12 year-old lover; a little sick, but a great read.

Currently reading:
Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace

I've read Pynchon before, and this is one of his more famous (and blessedly short) novels. Should be fun.

Ha, I almost started reading Infinite Jest upon finishing Catch-22, but I'm going to read Ulysses first. I have a bunch of really big, primarily post-modern books here that I want to read in (more-or-less) chronological order of publication.

Which of Pynchon's had you read? I've only read GR and The Crying of Lot 49, and I love TCoL49 almost as much GR. I hope you enjoy it at least as much as I did!

Meadowlark

United States349 Posts

March 26 2013 16:20 GMT

#1046

On March 26 2013 15:34 SeinGalton wrote:

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Just finished it, and yes it is indeed a great book. I particularly enjoyed the second half of the book.

Show nested quote +

I read V., which was a lot of fun. However, I did have to go online to look up chapter summaries after each chapter to make sure that what I thought happened actually happened... it was that kind of book.

packrat386

United States5077 Posts

March 26 2013 16:29 GMT

#1047

On March 25 2013 12:57 BrokenMirage wrote:

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The books focused on Bean, are much more similar to Ender's Game, than the sequels involving Ender. They are centered around strategy, and involve a similar power struggle, and so they are very much in line stylistically with it. The books involving Ender are very different in style, more delving into feelings and ethics. I personally really enjoyed them, but they are definitely written in a different pace than Ender's Game, so some people don't really like them, while others find them way better.

I would recommend that you finish book 2, and see if you like this style, storywise. If so, read on with Ender's saga. If not, just read more of Bean's quartet.

I can't speak to the rest of Enders saga but personally I really enjoyed the books involving Bean. I thought the political maneuvering in the books made for a really great read.

On March 26 2013 10:04 Meadowlark wrote:

Which of Pynchon's had you read? I've only read GR and The Crying of Lot 49, and I love TCoL49 almost as much GR. I hope you enjoy it at least as much as I did!

While I thought the crying of lot 49 was a bit strange plotwise I quite enjoyed the way that it was written. I liked the descriptions that Pynchon used (especially in the last scene) and how he made the book seem to move quickly, which, combined with the relative shortness of the book, made for a fast-paced exciting read.

packrat386

United States5077 Posts

March 27 2013 02:33 GMT

#1048

+ Show Spoiler +

On March 19 2013 23:22 packrat386 wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +

On March 13 2013 08:35 packrat386 wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +

On March 12 2013 23:34 packrat386 wrote:
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On March 10 2013 19:19 packrat386 wrote:
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On March 07 2013 18:43 packrat386 wrote:
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On March 03 2013 03:46 packrat386 wrote:
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On February 28 2013 15:44 packrat386 wrote:
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On February 28 2013 04:35 packrat386 wrote:
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On February 22 2013 02:30 packrat386 wrote:
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On February 08 2013 15:04 packrat386 wrote:
Just Finished:
[image loading]

I thought the poetry was really beautiful. Apparently tolkein discarded the works to write LotR (since the general public wanted more action) and I find that really tragic.

I'm in the middle of:

Just finished

And I must say its one of the best books I've ever read. I'm now going to go back to reading
[image loading]

which I was about halfway through when I inexplicably stopped it. Its a very interesting book about how the practice of wargaming has developed from its inception in the 1950s to the time the book was written (I believe '85). Its a bit dated, but still a pretty insightful look at how predictions and foreign policy go hand in hand.

After finishing War Games I decided to pick up a flashy spy novel
[image loading]

I really like Dan Silva books, and I actually finished this one in a single day (oops). If anyone is looking for a quick read and is into the suspense/spy novel type of books I can recommend this quite highly.

After that I picked up
[image loading]

It feels weird to post again so soon, but I've actually just finished When You Are Engulfed In Flames. I hope to be able to read some more stuff by Sedaris soon, as these short pieces were particularly good. I really enjoyed the descriptions he gave of everyday experiences and feelings and the way that he jumped from topic.

I've decided to go from there and revisit an author that I liked a lot in high school, and thus I'm reading
[image loading]

which I think I should like quite a bit.

Finished Hemingway on the plane. I find that his style of writing for the short stories is really excellent. He doesn't have to write a lot but he can pack a lot of meaning into a 4 page story.

I picked this up in case I needed something else to read on the plane

I really like these kind of cheap thrills paperback novels so I'll be glad to have another one to read.

I finished prince of fire relatively quickly. I thought the overall plot for the series took an interesting turn with this book, but we'll see how it goes. Once again I highly recommend silva.

For a nice read on vacation I decided to pick up
[image loading]

Posting with an anddroid is hard so i'll keep it short. Finished the maltese falcon and it was great, I'm looking forward to exploring the genre.

Travelling again so I picked up the next silva book on my list

[image loading]

Should be good!

Dan Silva as usual did not disappoint, although it seems like hes kind of running himself into a corner with the series. It will be interesting for me at least to see how he resolves some of the tensions he's built up in the storyline.

Since I liked the first freakonomics I decided to pick up the second book

[image loading]

which seems like it should be good.

Welp, I finished up Superfreakonomics. Excellent book, but it really wasn't terribly long. I found the discussion on the cheap and easy methods of preventing the adverse effects of global warming extremely interesting.

Given that I liked the Hemingway short stories I read before I decided to check this out of our uni library
[image loading]

I found it kind of funny that for some reason there are about 7 missing copies of this in the library records. Hopefully it will be good.

I finished For Whom the Bell Tolls and I think its one of the best books I've ever read. I thought that the descriptions and mindsets of war that Hemingway used were really amazing and I would highly recommend it (although it was quite long).

Decided to pick something up because it looked good in the school library.

Should be good.

I finished The Much Too Promised Land and I think it was a really excellent analysis of US diplomacy with regards to the Middle East Peace Process. I would recommend it to anyone who was interested in the US role in the matter on a sort of personal education level, as it was detailed, but not so much that it seemed overly academic or inaccessible. I think that while it probably falls short of a rigorous academic analysis of the issues at hand its a great set of memoirs, combined with a real message and discussion of what actually went down.

In what I think will be a short read I'm going to pick up
[image loading]

because I know someone who is going to be in the play, and I've known about it for quite a while but never looked into it.

After this, perhaps something about programming... any suggestions?

edit: image failed -_-

Rotodyne

United States2263 Posts

March 27 2013 02:42 GMT

#1049

Just finished On the Road by Jack Kerouac

Now reading: Cloud Atlas
[image loading]

LaM

United States1321 Posts

March 27 2013 02:54 GMT

#1050

On March 25 2013 09:47 Syn Harvest wrote:

Show nested quote +

How was All The Pretty Horses compared to McCarthy's other work. I have read most of his other work except for The Border Trilogy. Is it thematically similar to Blood Meridian but with a different set of characters and situations. I know it is set along the Texas Mexico border like many of his books.

I actually loved the Border Trilogy, particularly All the Pretty Horses. It is thematically similar to Blood Meridian but the prose is a bit easier. Part of my love for it might have been that it is largely a coming of age story and I read it at 16 or 17, but it was very good.

EDIT: I haven't been reading much lately, any good suggestions for recent grim fantasy (ASOIAF-esque) or sci fi that a lot of people here have been enjoying?

babylon

8765 Posts

March 27 2013 06:06 GMT

#1051

Reading:

+ Show Spoiler +

Interesting topic, some very good ideas, but overall a very spotty writer.

Will read:

[image loading]

Coming out April 2:

EDIT: LaM, if you want grim, historical fantasy, pick up some Guy Gavriel Kay. I recommend either the Sarantine Mosaic duology or Lions of Al-Rassan. And, well, I personally think GGK beats GRRM in historical fantasy. (Honestly, I find him the best fantasy writer still living today. Would make a smashing historian too, in my opinion.)

farvacola

United States18843 Posts

March 27 2013 06:33 GMT

#1052

Welcome back Babylon

I reread this every so often. It is easily one of my favorite books.

Syn Harvest

United States191 Posts

March 27 2013 11:03 GMT

#1053

On March 27 2013 11:54 LaM wrote:

Show nested quote +

Thanks. I recommend The First Law Trilogy for really good fantasy. Its got slightly more magic then ASOIAF but its just as gritty and brutal. I can't say enough how fantastic it is.

Ill definitely have to pick up All The Pretty Horses and give it a read

Antares777

United States1971 Posts

March 27 2013 18:32 GMT

#1054

On March 25 2013 09:47 Syn Harvest wrote:

Show nested quote +

It wasn't dark like The Road, which is the only other book of his that I read. I haven't read Blood Meridian, so I can't say much about it. All The Pretty Horses was more like an adventure that took a wrong turn. I'd recommend it, it was an enjoyable read.

packrat386

United States5077 Posts

March 28 2013 05:16 GMT

#1055

+ Show Spoiler +

On March 27 2013 11:33 packrat386 wrote:

Warning:
This spoiler contains everything I've read this year.
+ Show Spoiler +

2013 Reading Log
Just Finished:
[image loading]

I thought the poetry was really beautiful. Apparently tolkein discarded the works to write LotR (since the general public wanted more action) and I find that really tragic.

I'm in the middle of:

which is a really amazing book. As the author walks you through, you essentially start from batteries, wires, and electromagnets, and you end up building an entire computer. Its really crazy and I can't wait to finish it.

Just finished Code

And I must say its one of the best books I've ever read. I'm now going to go back to reading
[image loading]

Which I've heard is quite a good book. I would have gotten another spy novel but I need to wait until just before my flight on friday so I'll have something to read on the plane.

EDIT: I've realized that the picture I chose was actually for the CD version, but it was the nicest picture I could find :/

Finshed When You Are Engulfed In Flames
It feels weird to post again so soon, but I've actually just finished When You Are Engulfed In Flames. I hope to be able to read some more stuff by Sedaris soon, as these short pieces were particularly good. I really enjoyed the descriptions he gave of everyday experiences and feelings and the way that he jumped from topic.

I've decided to go from there and revisit an author that I liked a lot in high school, and thus I'm reading
[image loading]

which I think I should like quite a bit.

Finished Hemmingway Short Stories
Finished Hemingway on the plane. I find that his style of writing for the short stories is really excellent. He doesn't have to write a lot but he can pack a lot of meaning into a 4 page story.

I picked this up in case I needed something else to read on the plane

I really like these kind of cheap thrills paperback novels so I'll be glad to have another one to read.

Finished Prince of Fire
I finished prince of fire relatively quickly. I thought the overall plot for the series took an interesting turn with this book, but we'll see how it goes. Once again I highly recommend silva.

For a nice read on vacation I decided to pick up
[image loading]

because I've always liked the idea of the hardboiled detective genre and I figured I should start from the beginning.

I also just feel like mentioning, I really love this thread. So many people sharing good books.

Finished Maltese Falcon
Posting with an anddroid is hard so i'll keep it short. Finished the maltese falcon and it was great, I'm looking forward to exploring the genre.

Travelling again so I picked up the next silva book on my list

[image loading]

Should be good!

Finished The Messenger
Dan Silva as usual did not disappoint, although it seems like hes kind of running himself into a corner with the series. It will be interesting for me at least to see how he resolves some of the tensions he's built up in the storyline.

Since I liked the first freakonomics I decided to pick up the second book

[image loading]

which seems like it should be good.

Finished Superfreakonomics

Welp, I finished up Superfreakonomics. Excellent book, but it really wasn't terribly long. I found the discussion on the cheap and easy methods of preventing the adverse effects of global warming extremely interesting.

Given that I liked the Hemingway short stories I read before I decided to check this out of our uni library
[image loading]

I found it kind of funny that for some reason there are about 7 missing copies of this in the library records. Hopefully it will be good.

Finished For Whom the Bell Tolls
I finished For Whom the Bell Tolls and I think its one of the best books I've ever read. I thought that the descriptions and mindsets of war that Hemingway used were really amazing and I would highly recommend it (although it was quite long).

Decided to pick something up because it looked good in the school library.

Should be good.

Finished Much Too Promised Land
I finished The Much Too Promised Land and I think it was a really excellent analysis of US diplomacy with regards to the Middle East Peace Process. I would recommend it to anyone who was interested in the US role in the matter on a sort of personal education level, as it was detailed, but not so much that it seemed overly academic or inaccessible. I think that while it probably falls short of a rigorous academic analysis of the issues at hand its a great set of memoirs, combined with a real message and discussion of what actually went down.

In what I think will be a short read I'm going to pick up
[image loading]

Finished Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead
I thought it was a really interesting take on some existentialist ideas, as well as a pretty funny and thought provoking play. I would definitely recommend it, and at ~130 pages its short enough to read in an afternoon (if that).

Picked up in my library
[image loading]

Because it was just sitting there on the new arrivals shelf for today. University of Michigan has a huge library system, and the amount of books that they add to it each day is approximately equal to the amount of books that I own. I got pretty interested in middle east politics from the last book that I read so I'm eager to check out another view.

edit: fixed my archiving.

MustNotSleep

United States8 Posts

March 28 2013 06:44 GMT

#1056

Wool Omnibus is really catching my attention right now while I am waiting on the new Dresden Files to be completed.

lungic

Sweden123 Posts

March 29 2013 14:31 GMT

#1057

Just finished Player of Games. Not quiet what I had expected to read, but it was a pleasant surprise nonetheless. Rather low key and not so hands on as I had thought. Very different from Consider Phlebas. It was one book that I don't think can be converted into a film, even though "Cincinnati Kid" could be very close to it.

Now on to Death by black hole. Had it ordered two years ago, but it turned into a backorder that was never delivered, and then forgotten. So thanks to @FMStyles for reminding me of that book again.

sam!zdat

United States5559 Posts

March 29 2013 19:48 GMT

#1058

dmnum

Brazil6910 Posts

March 30 2013 01:37 GMT

#1059

On March 26 2013 12:58 dmnum wrote:

Show nested quote +

Alright, finished Crime and Punishment. Holy shit russians can write.
Part 1 was incredibly thrilling, part 2 was the low point of the book IMO, still good but not as amazing as the rest of the book.
In the end, I must say I liked Crime and Punishment more than The Brothers Karamazov. The latter is way more philosophical, which is cool and made me enjoy it immensely, but the plot of Crime and Punishment is one of the best I've ever seen, including movies and whatnot.
Definitely recommended, now I'm going to start The High Window, by Raymond Chandler.

[OGN]Remmy

United States1206 Posts

March 30 2013 06:49 GMT

#1060

I'm just reviewing the starcraft novels these days, start from the first one Uprising.
It's really a tough but meaningful work cuz I forgot pretty a lot of stuffs here and there when I'm playing the HotS.

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