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What Are You Reading 2014

Forum Index > Media & Entertainment
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packrat386
Profile Blog Joined October 2011
United States5077 Posts
December 31 2013 15:15 GMT
#1
I love this thread, so hopefully I can be the first to welcome you all to a new year of reading!

Here are the previous threads:
WAYR-2013
WAYR-2012
WAYR-2011

General Format:
1) What you just finished reading (or gave up half way through)
2) What are you currently reading
3) What you plan to read next

Try to post both the book title in text as well as image. I find the Amazon images work best in terms of size and clarity. The random google images are sometimes too big or too small.

It would also be great if you could post a little something along with the books. Did you like it, why or why not? How was the plot, how was writing style, how was the character development? What makes the book you are currently reading interesting? It’s not 100% necessary that you do so, but it tends to foster lively discussion of books, which is really what this thread is all about.

Also, please try to keep criticism of entire genres out of this thread. If you didn’t like a particular book then feel free to say so, but it’s not terribly productive to state that you dislike all of science fiction or existentialist literature etc.

Use spoilers appropriately, obviously.

Thanks to Cambium for the OP that I basically stole from last year



Here is what I read last year

+ Show Spoiler +

On December 23 2013 07:39 packrat386 wrote:
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:
[image loading]


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 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.

Finished War Games
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.

finished The Confessor
After that I picked up
[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
[image loading]


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.
[image loading]

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]

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 -_-

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.


Finished: Power and Policy in Syria
I found the authors take on the issues surrounding current syrian politics to be really interesting. I t was sort of fresh outside view of the history given that the author is a syrian expatriate (who cannot actually return to t syria for fear of arrest there). I think that his take on the current regime and the past was very balanced especially for someone that has a history with them. While he was critical of the regimes approach to controlling domestic politics and limiting civil engagement in syria he seemd to be somewhat supportive of a foreign policy that ensured that syria could protect some of its interests without becoming the next iraq. I would definitely recommend the book to anyone that wanted to learn about the details of inner politics in syria

I decided to pick up
[image loading]

given how much I liked the last 2 Hemingway books that I read I think I'm in for a treat.

Finished: A Farewell to Arms
This was an excellent book. I found that Hemingway managed to create a war novel that included both the tension and drama that one would expect from the type of cheap paperback that one reads in the airport. He also included all of the heartfelt emotion that I expect from a writer of his class. I highly recommend this book to just about anyone, really good.

This was also a surprisingly fast read so I just decided to pick up something that looked good on the shelf
[image loading]


Should be interesting.

Also @ sam!zdat: Is arednts writing pretty easy to understand? That book looks pretty interesting, but I only know of arendt as a heidegger scholar, and trying to read heideggarian stuff usually makes my head hurt...

Finished: Thermopylae
I found the book to be a pretty interesting take on a story that has become very well known recently. I like that the author didn't gloss over the faults of the Greeks, but still managed to cast them as fighting in defense of freedom and rule of law vs the (albeit benign) tyranny of the Persian Empire. Its a good look into the event itself and the surrounding bits of history that made it important.

After that I decided to pick up
[image loading]

I think it ought to be pretty interesting, since I've heard a lot about the event (used to live in CO) but never really gotten a good grasp of what really happened.

also @farvacola, I think the book club is a cool idea as long as there is enough time provided to actually acquire and read the book.

Finished: Columbine
I thought that this book had a really interesting take on the event and I like the way that it followed the relevant parties all the way through the event as well as their later rehabilitation. It seemed very much like Capote's In Cold Blood but with a more modern event as the background. I particularly liked the way that the book attempted to dispel some of the myths of the school shooter profile (bullying drove them to do it, they targeted specific groups, etc). I also was pleased that the author tried his best not to place the blame too much on any party (including the killers themselves) and that he tried to highlight those victims and survivors who pushed for forgiveness. I would highly recommend the book to just about anyone, just be ready to tear up a bit at times.

Given my new found love of Hemingway I decided to pick up
[image loading]

I've heard that its has some really excellent descriptive passages, and given how short it looks it shouldn't take too long to read.

Finished: Old Man and the Sea
This book was a pretty quick read as I had expected, but even then Hemingway delivers. I found his descriptions of the fish and the sea itself to be really beautiful. I also thought the way that the old man has a continuing monologue between himself and his body parts made for a really good effect. Entirely through the old mans eyes we see the fish and the sharks as separate, fully formed characters. I would highly recommend this for a good short read. Also this is not the first time after reading Hemingway that I feel a strong desire to go fishing.

Given that it looks like several other people are reading it I decided to pick
[image loading]

Off of my shelf. A friend gave it to me a while ago but I've never read it. Should be good!

Finished: Lolita
... Wow ...
This book was quite good. First of All I found the general style of the writing really pleasant. Th amount of wordplay and literary illusions that Nabokov uses give the text a pretty lighthearted feeling. There were times when I found myself actually laughing out loud at Humbert Humbert's blunt imagery and wordplay. I also found that the way in which the reader ends up empathizing with HH is really well done by Nabokov. There were parts of the book that I found really disturbing, but even then I found the "love story" elements of the novel to be quite beautiful even though they were incredibly creepy. I would highly recommend this book and I really enjoyed it myself.

On the recommendation of a friend I decided to pick up
[image loading]

Its been a while since I've read any Asimov but I've really enjoyed the previous works I've read from him (Foundation and I Robot) and I could use a good sci-fi novel. Should be good!

Finished: The Gods Themselves
This was quite a fun read. I really like the way Asimov sets up his stories and I think the tale of academic revenge was pretty interesting. The only part that I found confusing was the way that the para-men were never fully resolved. I would have liked to hear more about them. Overall it was a good, relatively quick read.

Since it looked good on the library shelves I decided to pick up
[image loading]

Its a collection of essays about the recession, and it looked pretty good. Might not have too much time to read given finals though...

Finished: The Great Hangover
Finals be damned, I suppose I always have time to read. I found this book to be really interesting and informative. I like a lot that it went past the surface level on a lot of the issues for example explaining exactly how a company like Bear Stearns can simply run out of money. That said I also appreciate that they kept the explanations simple enough that someone like me with no real background in finance can understand whats going on without having to look up a lot. This was a collection of essays so the topic areas were really diverse but I have to say I really enjoyed the essay's about the collapse of Bear Stearns and the rise followed by meteoric fall of Icelandic finance. I would reccomend this book to anyone looking to do some interesting reading on stories regarding the recession.

First I have to shout out to the Team Liquid Book Club (which you should all join). For that I've started reading
[image loading]

I've already read the first story and it seems like the book as a whole ought to be good.

Also now that I'm on holiday I'll be traveling with my family to Malta. Travel of course means another Daniel Silva novel so I decided to pick up.
[image loading]

Given that I've liked the last the last 6 of his novels I'm going to go ahead and infer that I will like this one too because I believe (without good justification Mr. Hume) in the fundamental uniformity of the universe. See you all in a week or so.

Oops I killed the thread. I'm travelling so I'll fix the formatting later.

Finished: The Secret Servant
It was quick. I thought that this book was very much like the others in that while the plot wasn't that deep it had pretty good action, so I cant complain. Good read for am airplane.

Decided to pick up
[image loading]
Since I've heard its quite good and its something I've been wanting to read

BTW Can anyone recommend a good history of the Iraq war?

Also, posting on tl with an android is hard any tips?

edit: Fixed the formatting

Still reading beowulf, but as I was sitting next to the poll yesterday I decided to pick up a book that looked interesting since it was just sitting on the table.
[image loading]

Finished: Why Be Happy When You Could Be Normal
I thought this book was quite interesting. Its the perspective of an adopted child being raised in a home with a Pentecostal and somewhat abusive mother (emotionally, but to her credit not physically). It turns out that the author is a lesbian, and that she become a feminist when she studied at Oxford She has a really incredible story from going to being kicked out of the house for sleeping with a girl to studying at oxford and becoming a writer. The fact that she found solace in books made it a particularly touching book to me. I would highly recommend it.

One thing interesting I found about it was the idea that Nabokov hated women. She came to this conclusion after reading lolita and finding HH's characterizations of women to be pretty degrading to all of them over the age of 15. While I agree that HH is not exactly kind to middle age women, I never really read that as something Nabakov himself felt at heart. Any perspectives from people who have read more than this kind of thing (I'm looking at you farvacola)? Its just that when i got to that part I was really surprised.

Anyway, still have to finish beowulf, should be good.

Finished: Beowulf
This book was pretty interesting. It was denser than I expected, but I really enjoy that kind of style. The oral history format has always been a format tat I've enjoyed and I found the heroism of beowulf quite compelling. One of the things that surprised me were the mentions of the Christian god. I'm not the most educated on the subject but I guess I had assumed that the heroes of the time would have believed in norse mythology. All in all it was quite a good story though

On the recommendation of a friend I picked up
[image loading]

I really liked Sula and Beloved so I think I will probably enjoy this book too. Should be good!

Finished: Paradise
I don't know how much toni morrison the rest of you have read, but this was quite similar to the other works of hers that I have read (and enjoyed) previously. I think the themes of destiny/mission were really interesting here as in this case it was the towns sense of their mission that ended up betraying them in the end. All in all a really good book by toni morrison.

Still reading dubliners, haven't selected a new book to read yet, but when I do I will of course be back here to let you all know.

Its been too long my fellow TL book lovers. Unfortunately typing on a tablet is hard so I'll have to keep this short

Finished: Dubliners
I quite enjoyed reading this book with the tlbc, and I'm still holding out for a final analysis of some sort (looking at you farv ). I really enjoyed the themes of religion in this book, as well a the final story about the christmas party, which reminded me of good times with family and friends. Great read.

I need another book for this trip so I decided to pick up A Brave New World
[image loading]
since its been on my list for a while (I'll add a pic later). It should be a good read!

Also I'll be back in the states with an English library and no stable internet, so I'll be doing a LOT of reading. I'll keep you all posted

Finished: A Brave New World
Really interesting book. The style really made the book as it was almost comedic. I kind of think that the ending was a bit short, as I would have liked the "experiment" to have gone on longer. I also found Huxley's semi-endorsement of religion to be interesting because a lot of people who invoke him seem not to be fans.

I decided to go back to the roots of spy novels and pick up Casino Royale.
[image loading]
I'm still without my precious computer so pics will have to wait . Should be good though.

Finished: Casino Royale
Reading this book was really refreshing as a fan of fast paced spy novels. The way that fleming writes is really crisp and clean, and it makes the entire genre seem new again. Too many books of this type suffer from seeming like reproductions of the same old story, but with the first Bond everything seemed new and untested. We'll see how the rest of them go. I found that the way the book dealt with gender roles was actually somewhat appaling as a modern reader, but I'll be addressing that in a blog at some point since I think the entire genre can be blamed for that a bit.

Decided to pick up
[image loading]
since it seems like a fair number of people are reading it, and its been on my list for a while. Ought to be good.

@IPA/Csheep: I don't deny that the story as a whole was a bit of a downer (although I do very much like the interpretation of hope). I was only trying to say that the feeling of the party at the beginning made a connection for me with spending time with family and friends and such. Hopefully some of those issues can be cleared up when we finally close out the TLBC (right farvacola? ).

Also I'll be on serious vacation for a while, so expect a lot of reading out of me.

Just Finished: Slaughterhouse 5
That was pretty weird. I really liked the recurring "So it goes" in reference to death, since it actually did make it seem like so much less of a big deal. I also liked the scene in which the alien explains to him how they blow up the universe, and that he should focus only on the happy moments in life (I think that scene is somewhat famous). The author tie-in at the beginning was interesting since it made me wonder exactly how much of the story was real. I feel like I want to know more about the bombing of dresden after reading that book.

Decided to pick up
[image loading]
since its been on my list for a while. I hope to finish it by tuesday, because then the library here opens back up and I can get the books I have on hold. Should be good.

edit: formatting

Finished: All The Pretty Horses
This book convinced me that I need to read more Cormac McCarthy. I found the descriptions of the countryside and the travels of the boys to be really beautiful. I particularly enjoyed the detailed descriptions of the food that they ate. I thought the meat of the novel was pretty moving, and though it was said, I was glad it wasn't as full of despair as The Road. My only problem with his writing is the lack of quotation marks, which can make it difficult to tell whats going on.

edit: I went to the library but they didn't have my book yet

I guess I'll read this in the meantime.
[image loading]
Should be a good one.

Finished: Live and Let Die
This book gives us a much more lighthearted James Bond who is chumming around with Felix Leiter. He still retains the same level of class, but I really like the change in pacing at times. I think that the plot elements of voodoo + sunken treasure made for a pretty interesting story. Only problem with this is that it does illuminate a bit of racism on the part of fleming. He was writing in 1956 I believe, but his descriptions of african americans are not the best.

Then since there were still about 24 hours before I could get my LeCarre book

Finished: Diamonds are Forever
[image loading]

This book was also pretty good, and a relatively fast read. Once again we find Bonds in America, this time taking on the Mob. It was quite interesting to see a popular culture perspective on the mob in the 1950's, as their image has changed little since then. We see them as rich gangsters, who g about fixing gambling matches and horse races and bumping off anyone who feels different. It was also somewhat interesting to see Fleming's disdain for the glitz of Las Vegas. As someone who seems to admire the European gambling scene (see casino royale), he seems to find Vegas all too fake and soulless.

So now I've decided to start
[image loading]

I've heard that LeCarre is a more complex writer than other spy novels, so it will be interesting to see the differences between him and the others that I have read. Should be good!

This thread is no fun when I'm the only one posting

Finished: The Spy Who Came In From the Cold
This book was really excellent. LeCarre dismisses the glamour and dashing of the likes of James Bond and replaces them with the amost anti-hero of Leamas. I quite enjoyed the cynicism and bureaucracy of LeCarre's spies, and I thought the plot was quite complex and well thought out. I'll be writing more later, since I'm going to write a blog about the genre in general.

Decided to pick up
[image loading]

Since I needed a break after all of these spy novels, and I love me some Tolkien. Should be good!

edit: formatting

Finished:The Children of Hurin
Really great book. I knew the story beforehand, but it was great to be able to read it in depth, as a story of its own instead of part of a history. The story is movingly tragic, and I would highly suggest it to any fan of Tolkein's other works.

Decided to pick up
[image loading]

Its the next one in the series, and the big book that I have contains a bunch of them, including this one. Should be good

@PhoenixVoid: I never knew they were a series. I guess I'll have to go read some more

@dmnum: I hope you enjoy wuthering heights, but I found that book incredibly boring

@farvacola: I got to see La Traviata and Aida in verona a couple of weeks ago. It was amazing, and reminded me that I really ought to go to operas more often.

Finished: From Russia With Love
James Bond is good as always. I thought the plot twists for this novel in particular were quite well thought out. However the main premise of the 2 spies having to fall in love with each other for their respective missions was a bit cheesy. I should also say that this book was a bit heavy handed in its approach toward making the USSR look like an awful place, and making all of its spies and such seem deranged.

Decided to pick up
[image loading]

because I love spy novels and I've been reading my way through the best of them for fun. (you can also check out my blog about the genre )

next up Les Miserables.

edit: I always forget the formatting

Finished: Tinker Tailor Soldier Spy
This book wasa really amazing mystery/espionage thriller. LeCarre's "Circus" is put in slight disarray as foreign sources seem to reveal evidence of a "mole", a deeply rooted spy in the service. The book covers the attempts of George Smiley to uncover which one of his ex-workmates, all longtime friends, is a Russian Spy. I really enjoy the way that the evidence is presented mostly as anecdotes and interviews, and how a central event, Operation Testify, is hinted at often, but only explained near the very end. A truly excellent novel.

Now, with my thirst for spy novels well and truly sated, I have decided to pick up.
[image loading]

Holy shit, this book is long and dense. I'm almost done with the first section (Fantine), which is ~250 pages, which leaves me with about 100 pages to go

That said, i really enjoy the attention to detail that Hugo puts in to every character. Even minor characters often have a small chapter dedicated to their background and such. It should be good.

edit: why must I be so forgetful

Finished: Les Miserables
This book was incedibly detailled. With 1200 pages to work with Hugo spared no detail, and was able to let the plot develop a quite deeply. I thought that one of the benefits of this version is that the relationships seem so much more believable. For example, in the movie/show Marius sees Cosette once in the street and falls in love with her, whereas in the book they have a silent courtship in the Jardin de Luxembourg for several months. I really like the plot of the novel since I find the character of jean valjean really compelling (hes like spiderman crossed with jesus), and this book has some of the most compassionate moments in any book that I've read. Also having just left Paris it was cool to read a book about it. Also farvacola was right, that chapter on Waterloo was amazing. I would say it would have been worth reading the entire 1200 page book just for that chapter.

Decided to pick up
[image loading]

Since I've been watching the show and decided it might be cool to read the book. We'll see how it goes.

Finsished: Game of Thrones
I can see why people like these books, and yet I'm somewhat disappointed. I enjoyed the way that the plot moved, and I think that Martin's characters do a good job of negotiating and politics, however they all seemed quite shallow to me. So far there has been very little character development for anybody, and what there was is sudden (bran loses the use of his legs, etc.). I hope that with the next few books the characters will gain more depth, but for now they seem pretty one-dimensional, as do their conflicts.

because there was nothing else around the house
[image loading]

Finished: Dr. No
Pretty much what I expected from Fleming.The plot moved pretty well, and there were even some surprising deaths. I have to say that this was one of his more racist novels when comes to his description of Chigroes (african-chinese people), but it was still a decent read.

I actually have nothing else to read atm since the library was closed today :/

Also can anybody reccomend a good history of the war in Iraq? I started reading Fiasco by Thomas E. Ricks, but I found it to be a bit too judgmental for my liking. I don't need a book to tell me how much of a bad idea it was to invade in 2003, I really just want a book that will analyze the structure of the invasion itself since its something that I find that I know too little about.

[image loading]
Finished: Nation of Wimps
This was a good book. Basically the premise was the kids needs more separation, challenge, unstructured play, and failure in their childhood so that they can develop personal identity and self reliace. It was interesting to see the rate at which kids in the US are breaking down once reaching college, since that's the age that I'm at right now. I think the book was a bit overzealous, and it made it sound like incredibly invasive parenting was the norm, however it was still a good read.

Picked up
[image loading]

Next book in the series, should be good.

Also still looking for a history of the Iraq War. Anybody got a recommendation?

edit: formatting .... -_-

Finished: A Clash of Kings
This book was also pretty good. I'm still sort of disappointed by the lack of real character development, but its an ok read nonetheless. I was also somewhat surprised at the extent to which the TV series begins to deviate from the book at this point, but part of that may also be due to how long its been since I watched the shwo.

picked up
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I hear its well written and fun. After this I'm going to read Atlas Shrugged so this is like the last meal of a condemned man.

Also I'm certain one of you must have read a good, objective history of the iraq war. Help me out here.

Finished: Alice in Wonderland
Fun little book. I read both it and Through the Looking Glass as they were in the same book. I found the poetry quite funny, and the rest of was lighthearted. The only bad part about it was that I don't know how the recitations are supposed to go, so when she said them wrong I didn't get the jokes.

Picked up
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I've heard from people that both love and hate this boo, and its been on my list of books to read for a while. Don't know how much I'll like it, but it should be interesting.

still looking for a history of the Iraq War

Finished: Atlas Shrugged
This book was a pretty interesting read. I must say that I do somewhat identify with the ideas that Rand puts forward in the novel, so it was probably more enjoyable to me than it would have been to somebody who really disliked it. The only thing that i thought was a bit strange was the fact that while all of the industrialists never want to be "given" anything, they all spend a lot of time basically doing favors for each other for a pittance (25 cents to rent a car for example). As far as the writing goes it was very much how farvacola predicted. The characters, rather than being human seemed to be merely the embodiment of ideas, and the book seemed somewhat like propaganda. I sort of wish that Rand had written the story so that the characters were a little bit more real since while it might detract from the ideological purity of the book, it would have definitely made it a better read.

Oh well, who is John Galt.

Picked up
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because I was in need of something short and fun, and my mother happened to have just finished it. At the time of writing this, I'm actually about halfway through and its quite good. Next up, Storm of Swords.

Finished: Bossypants
This book was a nice short memoir. It was pretty funny, which made it quite easy to read. Not a whole lot to say about it, but if you ever want something light and fun this is a good choice.

picked up
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Because its the next book in the series. Should be good.

Finished: A Storm of Swords
This book was pretty interesting. While I can't say that I find Martin's writing that good, I think that he does do a good job of making you want to know whats going to happen next.

Speaking of what happens next, picked up
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because its the next one. Should be good.

@ViZe: I'm not sure where in Atlas Shrugged you stopped, but I agree that there is kind of a boring part in the middle. However if you didn't make it to John Galt's speech, you really ought to read that far, since even if you don't agree with the philosophy its interesting to see it presented as one complete argument. Also it picks up around that point.

@farvacola: Now, I'll have to read that book so I can read your paper.

edit: always the formatting...

Finished: A Feast For Crows
Once again, this book was ok. It was pretty much the same as the others. One worry I have is that if GRRM doesn't have a set story for a lot of the medium sized characters, then he's going to write a lot of them into a corner.

picked up
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Because it looked quite good. I'm interested in a lot of middle east history and such, so I'm looking forward to this book.

Finished: In the Rose Garden of the Martyrs
This book was beautiful. Although the author was a foreigner, he has spent years in Iran after the revolution conducting interviews and immersing himself in the culture, so I get the sense that while its still not perfect, he views Iran almost as an insider. He did a really good job of seeking out disillusioned former revolutionaries, whose fires have waned as they grew older and saw their movement falter. It also give a good commentary on the hypocrisy of a system that at the same time wants more religious and political freedom as well as a government under Islam. The part of the book that I found most compelling was the description at the beginning of how Iran is in a perpetual state of mourning, and that the people relish the sadness and emotion that comes with it. I highly recommend this book.

Now its back to mediocre storytelling with a dash of sex appeal
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When I'm done with this I will know all that there is to know about it and I'll just have to wait for more books like everyone else :/

Finished: A Dance With Dragons
I'm traveling, so I'll post later about how I felt about the series as a whole. This book was, once again, ok.

traveling, so I picked up
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Since what is a plane ride without Dan Silva?

Finished: The Moscow Rules
This book took me way too long to read mostly because I've been somewhat busy travelling and visiting people. I actually think its probably one of the better books that Silva has written, and it encourages me that his series might not run out of steam after all.

Picked up

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It was actually a gift from a friend a little while ago. She doesn't seem very into literature, but according to samizdat she made a good choice.

Finished: American Gods
This book took me too long to read. I had been sort of busy and hadn't had much time, but once I got into this book I really enjoyed it. I particularly liked the opening and Shadows explanation of prison as well as dealing with the loss of his wife. I actually think that as the book wore on became slightly more cliched (almost like percy jackson for adults), and so I wasn't really as pleased with the ending of the story. Overall I really liked the descriptive writing, in particular the sex scenes. I would recommend this book.

Picked up

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because its one of the last major works by Hemingway that I haven't read, and I've liked his previous stuff. Should be good!

Finished: The Sun Also Rises
I can very much understand why this book is considered so important, especially considering how much it embodies the "Lost Generation" and how the protagonist seems to represent Hemingway. That said, I didn't like the book as much as For Whom the Bell Tolls. Like the other Hemingway stuff that I've read though, it did make me want to go fishing and go to a bullfight. All in all, pretty good,

Picked up
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Because it looked like the kind of thing I was looking for earlier.

Abandoned: The Iraq War
This is only the second book that I have abandoned this year and the other one was also about the iraq war. Why can't people just keep their rhetoric to a minimum and at least TRY to present a decently objective view? This author was basically a blowhard who set out to glorify the US military strategy of bombing the shit out of iraq. On every occasion possible he awarded credit to american generals rather than possibly admit that the battle was going to be a one sided shitstorm from the start. To top it off, he says right at the start that a bunch of his data isn't finalized and that no reliable army reports have been made yet, so I'm dumping him.

Picked up
[image loading]

Third times the charm right? From the fact that this book is essentially a collection of papers with many authors AND from the foreword, I think this book may finally be the one. I have to read fast though because apparently sams propaganda is on the way.

Finished: The Conflict in Iraq, 2003
This book to me way too long to read, but it was definitely worth the wait, and far superior to the other books that I've read. This book presented multiple different opinions of a variety of UK authors on issues spanning the social impact of the war in the Middle East, to the Economic Consequences, to the revolution in military strategy that it entailed. A couple conclusions struck me particularly. First of all, the social and economic sections telegraphed the Arab Spring and the 2008 Economic Collapse respectively. Although hardly guaranteed, the society article made the argument that the destruction of one of the last secular, Arab nationalist states might prompt a resurgence of Islamist parties, which is exactly what we're seeing now in places like Egypt. As for the cost of the war, I'm sure that the rest of you are familiar with how expensive it is to kick ass and take names.

The other really interesting conclusion was at the very end of the book in which the author argued that the whirlwind pace of parallel warfare necessarily meant that military strategy would become separated from civilian politics, further robbing it of perceived legitimacy. While Network Centric Warfare (NCW) is extremely effective, it requires a measure of localized command and control as well as unpredictability that democratic governance can never provide. This, argues the author, signals the end of war as the extension of politics.

Great book, 10/10. If you want to know more about the war in Iraq this is an excellent book to read.

Now, at the request (and generous patronage) of our resident marxist, I have decided to read

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Should be an interesting read.

Finished: A Brief History of Neoliberalism
Interesting... I feel like I have to go read a lot of economics stuff to decide how I feel about the conclusions that Harvey comes to. This book definitely pushed me toward a sort of progressive socialist viewpoint (I would be interested in knowing what our resident marxists thought was the takeaway). I think Harvey definitely raises some interesting points about the failure of neoliberalism, but at this point I simply have to trust him on the question of the economics since I have had no education in that area at all. A few criticisms.
- I think that he seems to gloss over a lot of the problems of the USSR and Communist china before Deng Xiaoping. I understand that hes not advocating for their system of governance, but it seems that in that case neoliberalism despite its flaws maybe have been a step forward.
- I think that he is a bit quick to decree the downfall of US hegemony in the conclusions. Global goodwill for the US may be pretty low, but we still command a lot of respect internationall, and US military power really can't be overstated. Obviously we're heading there, but I don't think we're in the post unilateral world yet.
- He seems to present neoliberalism as a far more malicious conspiracy than I think seems plausible. I don't have a great justification for this, but a lot of these passages just struck me as a bit off the mark.
One thing that I really appreciated at the end was his call to focus on tangible political action rather than vague theorizing. I may not agree with him completely, but it seems obvious to most people that some stuff needs to get done soon, and I think a focus on action over rhetoric and academic study is going to be important for that.
Good read, I would reccomend. If someone else here wants to read it and doesn't want to buy it, I'll send it to you on the condition that you read it.

The next book I'm reading is
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That might be kind of hard to see, but the book is Minorities in Revolt by Dominick J. Coyle

I'm reading this book not necessarily because I'm interested in the content (although it sounds interesting enough), but because the author is my grandfather and recently passed away. He was never particularly talkative and I hope to some extent that I can get some insight into who he was by reading a work that is to some extent central to his career and his passion. Should be interesting.

omg its my TL birthday. time to post in my favorite thread :D

Finished: Minorities in Revolt
This book was really quite interesting in how it detailed political and and religious clashes in Ireland, Italy, and Cyprus. I thought that it was a rather good read, but not having a ton of background on the issues it touched on I can't really comment that much on it. As for reading it in an attempt to better know my grandfather I do think it was somewhat successful. I enjoyed reading tongue in cheek jokes in his voice, and I could definitely hear his somewhat professorial tone throughout the book.

picked up
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since it was recommended a few posts back. I want to start reading fiction again because my reading has been falling off a bit. I like histories, but its too easy to leave them sitting on the shelf sometimes. Should be good.

edit: always the formatting

omg, its my real birthday. Good thing I have reason to return to my favorite thread on TL

Finished: Never Let Me Go
Touching. I I found the bildungsroman + dystopia rather interesting. I think that my reading of this book was somewhat altered by the fact that I knew about the dontations, etc. beforehand, so for me even the earliest moments at Hailsham felt like there was something sinister being ignored in the background. One other thing that I found particularly well done about this book was the frustration that kathy feels when her friends pick up pop culture mannerisms as if they are their own. I've definitely had the experience of watching a friend say something and thinking to myself, "you only do that because X person you admire does that too". I think that this book was quite well done, and I'd definitely like to check out some other works by the author.

picked up
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because it was in my library and looked interesting. Tbh, if I find some good fiction around my house that I haven't read yet, I'll probably drop this since I'm a bit historied out atm. We'll see how it goes.

Finished: Cyber Warfare
This book was ok. I was interested in reading it to try to see what the cyber security industry is focusing on atm (I'm a computer science student, and its a potential area of study). I found that the authors of this book seemingly overstated the potential imapcts of cyber attacks in an attempt to make their field of work seem more like a crisis area. They always wanted to tie the impacts to some kind of body count, but the only real life case where they could look at cyberwar as having that kind of impact was in the Russian invasion Georgia (in 09 I believe). However they seem to conveniently overlook the fact that the "cyber offensive" was backed up by a russian tank column. They also had a pretty horrible interpretation of current international law surrounding rules of engagement. Anyway, good read, but I disagree with a lot of their conclusions.

picked up
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since it was a birthday gift from my parents. I think they overestimate the extent to which I want to read about science and math, but it sound interesting enough from the description. We'll see how it goes.



And my first book for this year, Love and Math:
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This was a birthday gift from my parents and I’m halfway in. It’s partly a biography of a young mathematician overcoming discrimination and finding his passion in soviet Russia. The other part is a sort of an explanation as to why he enjoys math so much. I find the biographical element really interesting, but so far the math has not been terribly engaging. I understand that he’s trying to avoid the kind of nitty gritty detail that makes people hate math in school, but it often leaves me feeling like it hasn’t really been explained. We’ll see how the rest goes.

Happy New Year Folks!

sorry this was in the wrong spot the first time -_-
dreaming of a sunny day
Paljas
Profile Joined October 2011
Germany6926 Posts
December 31 2013 16:19 GMT
#2
the book "Théorème vivant" by Cédric Villani is a pretty cool book about the development of a mathematical theorem.
you might wanna check it out, eventhough i am not sure whether or not there is a english translation.
some of the math is pretty tough tho
TL+ Member
dmnum
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
Brazil6910 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-12-31 16:24:02
December 31 2013 16:23 GMT
#3
Kicking off the new year with The Death of Ivan Ilyich and The Kreutzer Sonata, both by Tolstoy.
PepsiMaxxxx
Profile Joined October 2012
Sweden5452 Posts
December 31 2013 17:03 GMT
#4
I'll start 2014 with:

Kafka On the Beach - Harkuri Murakami (100 pages left).
The better angel of our nature - Steven Pinker.
Maybe some fantasy and I'll try to end The Enders Game tetralogy (even tho it's horrible).
dravernor
Profile Blog Joined May 2013
Netherlands6181 Posts
December 31 2013 19:07 GMT
#5
Starting off my 2014 with my Christmas book:
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Half of a Yellow Sun by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

The reviews look positive so far. It was apparently recommended to me because my mom only recalled me saying I had enjoyed Memoirs of a Geisha (and that was more because I am utterly fascinated with Japanese culture)
So, let us see.
<3
Ramong
Profile Joined March 2011
Denmark1706 Posts
December 31 2013 20:21 GMT
#6
He, I was thinking about remaking thread myself.

I just finished Culture and Carnage, also knows as Why The West Has Won, by Victor Davis Hanson.
I was made aware of it from the What Are You Reading 2013 thread here.

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Great book where in Hanson tries to explain why the western armies have been winning far from home many times outnumbered and badly supplied.

Hanson frames the book as his counterpoint to Jared Diamond’s celebrated Guns, Germs, and Steel. Diamond famously pointed to geographic and environmental factors as the great engines of history. Hanson argues in this book that culture is a far more potent force in determining the outcome of human events.

He gives 9 examples in a exiting and fantastic way without it ever turning dry.

Can wholeheartedly recommend this to anyone.
"Yeah buddy"
DoctorM
Profile Blog Joined June 2012
United States36 Posts
December 31 2013 20:25 GMT
#7
Starting 2014 off with The Black Count, a book about Alexander Dumas' father, who was a mulatto general in Napoleons army. It's going pretty deep into historical accounts, and making all sorts of connections between Dumas' works and his fathers adventures in the military. Very cool if your a fan of Dumas' brand of swashbuckling adventure. =)
57 Corvette
Profile Blog Joined July 2010
Canada5941 Posts
Last Edited: 2013-12-31 20:27:43
December 31 2013 20:27 GMT
#8
+ Show Spoiler +
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Rereading The Messenger, its a good book in my opinion (although I don't read a lot). From the back of the book:
"Ed Kennedy is an underage cabdriver without much of a future. He's pathetic at playing cards, hopelessly in love with his best friend Audrey, and utterly devoted to his coffee-drinking dog, the Doorman. His life is one of peaceful routine and incompetence until he inadvertently stops a bank robbery. Thats when the first ace arrives in the mail. Thats when Ed becomes the messenger. Chosen to care, he makes his way through town helping and hurting (when necessary) until only one question remains: Who's behind Ed's mission?"
Survival is winning, everything else is bullshit.
Enki
Profile Blog Joined January 2007
United States2548 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-01-02 01:08:26
January 02 2014 01:07 GMT
#9
Last Read:
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A Wild Sheep Chase - Kinda got stuck in the middle of this but recently finished it. The first half was really slow though which made it kinda boring to slog through. It really starts to pick up though and got really interesting in the later half of it. Even though I liked it overall, I would rate this pretty low among the other books I have read by him so far.


Reading Now:
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Undisputed Truth - The new Mike Tyson book. Lotta crazy shit in this, wtf. From his upbringing to claiming to being high on drugs when he lost his title fight against Buster Douglas. Also just got done reading about the rape charge and it looks really fucked up now looking back on it (fucked up from his point of view, everyone seemed against him at the time). So far, I enjoyed the parts where he talked about Cus D'Amato the most, how he met him and what he like as a person. Never really got to find about him so that was pretty interesting.


Dunno what I will read next. I got a lot of books for Christmas so I might pick one of those out, maybe another Murakami book. Also got a couple Batman comics so maybe one of those.
"Practice, practice, practice. And when you're not practicing you should be practicing. It's the only way to get better. The only way." I run the Smix Fanclub!
Cambium
Profile Blog Joined June 2004
United States16368 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-01-02 03:20:50
January 02 2014 03:15 GMT
#10
Haha, nicely done. I just remembered to make 2014 and you already did!

I read 14 books in 2013, just ONE shy of the 15 target I set for myself on GoodReads (I've probably read more than one book worth of books that I eventually gave up on though). My goal is 18 this year, hopefully at least a few in Chinese.

Just Read:
And the Mountains Echoed
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I really liked his other works like The Kite Runner and A Thousand Splendid Suns, but this one was kind of average, but it was a decent read nonetheless. The writing style is pretty interesting (I'm not sure if it's the same as the other ones because I really don't remember), spanning the story across a very long time frame, all strung along very weakly by the love between a brother and a sister + Show Spoiler +
separated at a very young age
. The main characters of the plot were numerous, each telling a very different story at a different location and a different era, but with very carefully planned intersections. Some parts are more interesting than others, but overall, I can see that the author really tried to (a little superficially imo) add dimensions to his story. Didn't care too much about all the different languages that were mixed in artificially either.

Reading:
Fortress Besieged (in Chinese)
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A classic modern day Chinese novel, I tried to read it on the Kindle a few times, but the CJK support is utterly horrible. I finally got a paperback, so starting this again.

Next:
Foundation
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Moar sci-fi
When you want something, all the universe conspires in helping you to achieve it.
dmnum
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
Brazil6910 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-01-03 07:44:26
January 03 2014 07:41 GMT
#11
About "The Death of Ivan Ilyich":

It is a novella about the meaning of life and what it means to die, written in a (not surprinsingly) brilliant way. Not a single word is wasted or needed. I would recommend it to people who want to start Tolstoy, although his most famous works("Anna Karenina" and War and Peace") are very different(Tolstoy wrote "The Death of Ivan Ilyich" after his spiritual awakening, when he was a completely different man).

About "The Kreutzer Sonata":

"Tolstoy does Dostoyevsky" is the first thing that comes to mind when thinking about this novella. This one is a lot more philosophical though so I would advise people to read about Tolstoy's life before jumping into it, as it makes the novella much more enjoyable, even though his visions are really dated it's a very good text.

Edit: Now I'm jumping into some other short works by him, like "The Devil" and "Father Sergius".
TOCHMY
Profile Blog Joined June 2010
Sweden1692 Posts
January 03 2014 07:44 GMT
#12
+ Show Spoiler +
On December 02 2013 18:37 TOCHMY wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +
On October 28 2013 21:54 TOCHMY wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +
On October 03 2013 17:40 TOCHMY wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +
On September 20 2013 16:42 TOCHMY wrote:
+ Show Spoiler +
On August 26 2013 23:38 TOCHMY wrote:
Finished:

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I don't know what to say about this book... I guess I'm not really that satisfied by short stories. Some were good, some were weird and some were a waste of time. But regardless of how good they were, they didn't satisfy me.

Still trudging through:

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It's going really really slow for me with this one. I just can't seem to find motivation to keep reading it. Partly because it's hard for me to comprehend what's happening sometimes, and partly because stuff is happening all over the place, much of which isn't that interesting to be honest. I know this book's been praised alot in this thread. I guess I'm one of those less erudite people in this thread.

Just arrived:

[image loading][image loading]
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I started The Last Wish today and it looks really promising! Best part is that I have a clear understanding of how the various monsters in the book looks like, since I played the game. Always useful!




Finished:

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I have yet to read a book by Brandon Sanderson that I didn't like. While Elantris is the book I've enjoyed least by him, it was still great. His character development skills is on another level.

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I got recommended this book by an english teacher that comes to my work from time to time. His favourite author is Ian McEwan and he recommended me Amsterdam and Enduring Love.

Amsterdam was... okay I guess. The main character is dead from page 1 and I didn't feel any kind of connection to the other characters in the book. I don't know really. The plot was okayish but the execution could be better.

Currently reading:

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Book 2 about Geralt the witcher. I love these books!

Up next:

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Brandon Sanderson <3

Just ordered:

+ Show Spoiler +

[image loading][image loading][image loading][image loading]
Brandon Sanderson <3




Finished:

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I can recommend these books to anyone who likes fantasy. I urge anyone who's played the games to read these books. They are absolutely amazing and I can't wait for the rest of the series to be translated. I'm currently halfway throught the third book (actually the second in the series, but the third translated book about The Witcher) Times of Contempt.

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Short, easy to read, distinct character development. I liked The Emperor's Soul, but it's not my favourite Sanderson.

Currently Reading:

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Geralt <3


Up Next:

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I deviated a bit more from my 5 books of the month list. I passed by a local bookstore and they had sale on 2 Murakami books, namely After Dark and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World.

Finished:

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A short and nice story about a girl named Mari and her adventure through a night somewhere in Tokyo. Murakami is a genius.

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Everyone. Put down the book you're currently reading and enjoy this masterpiece.


Currently Reading:

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About 60 pages in now. It's a book for young adults. Starts off pretty slow, like most of Sanderson's but I'm sure it will pick up soon.

Sanderson is one of my favourites. Yet, when I pick up a new book by him, I'm a little bit put off when starting. "Yet another of his weird magics to learn and yet another world." But he does it so well so I'm always left pleased in the end.

Up next:

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I know all about Led Zeppelin already, but I hope this book will give me some new info that I didn't already know. A book for true nerds as far as I know.




Finished: All of above spoilered titles + Haruki Murakami - Hard boiled Wonderland and The End of the World.

I just love Haruki Murakami. God damn he writes so well and has such intriguing stories. I usually only read books when commuting to and from work as well as 30-40 min during lunch. I rarely read books when home. Except Murakami. I'm ploughing through his work. It's a bit sad, though, because I don't have much left of him to read.

Currently Reading:

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Up Next:

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Finished:

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Damn this book was slow... Took me 4 weeks to finish. I have a hard time enjoying Mr Weeks' writingstyle. The book was decent at best IMO (Yet it has got a really high score on goodreads.com...).

Got for christmas:
+ Show Spoiler +

[image loading][image loading]
[image loading][image loading]


Will read Never Let Me Go first, followed by previously not-yet-read books from before, Wind-up Bird Chronicles.

Here's to a new good book year!

My Goodreads profile
Yoona <3 ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ Look! It's Totoro! ☉.☉☂
corumjhaelen
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
France6884 Posts
January 03 2014 08:55 GMT
#13
Still reading The Order of Things plus :
[image loading]
Nicomachean Ethics
Aristotle and his common sense... zzzZZzzZZ
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Life and Fate
‎numquam se plus agere quam nihil cum ageret, numquam minus solum esse quam cum solus esset
]343[
Profile Blog Joined May 2008
United States10328 Posts
January 04 2014 04:34 GMT
#14
From the previous thread...

On September 09 2013 15:09 Iceman331 wrote:
I've held off on recommending this for a while for whatever reason, but I am bored and have time to write something, so here it is.

http://parahumans.wordpress.com/category/stories-arcs-1-10/arc-1-gestation/1-01/ (link is to chapter 1)

Worm is a serial web novel set in a universe of the author's creation where humans with superpowers (parahumans) are a fairly common phenomenon. I can't possibly give a short description that both does it justice and avoids spoilers, but the story follows a young female protagonist who is (at the start of the story) attempting to find her place in the world of superheros/villains.

+ Show Spoiler [rest of post] +

The story is epic in scale, and last time I checked with the author a few weeks ago it was in the neighborhood of 1.5 million words (for perspective, the entirety of George RR Martin's works are around 1.4 million now). The writing is technically excellent, the story is engaging, and a lot of attention is paid to developing the many minor and major characters that appear throughout.

It updates 2x a week and the author has not missed a single scheduled update in over 3 years,so it is on pace to finish within the next 6 months or so I think. Anyways, I highly recommend checking this out if you are into this type of story and can stand the suspense of 1-2 cliffhangers a week from now until whenever it concludes.


Mandatory disclaimer because someone is going to ask: this is not my work. Not sure I really have any way to prove that, but you can take my word for it or not as you please.


This series recently finished. I started reading after it finished (still on arc 21 of 30), but it's really good! Lots of fast-paced action, and the author imagines a really rich world.
Writer
Bunn
Profile Blog Joined September 2010
Estonia934 Posts
Last Edited: 2014-01-04 13:08:40
January 04 2014 13:08 GMT
#15
On January 02 2014 12:15 Cambium wrote:

Next:
Foundation
+ Show Spoiler +
[image loading]


Moar sci-fi


Great book, one of my favourites.

I'm currently reading A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court by Mark Twain. Hilarious book.
"There are no limits. There are plateaus, but you must not stay there, you must go beyond them. If it kills you, it kills you. A man must constantly exceed his level." - Bruce Lee
TimENT
Profile Joined November 2012
United States1425 Posts
January 04 2014 16:51 GMT
#16
The Eye Of The World - Robert Jordan
Barcelona / Arsenal Fan!
Maegi
Profile Joined January 2013
Finland174 Posts
January 04 2014 21:40 GMT
#17
On January 01 2014 05:25 DoctorM wrote:
Starting 2014 off with The Black Count, a book about Alexander Dumas' father, who was a mulatto general in Napoleons army. It's going pretty deep into historical accounts, and making all sorts of connections between Dumas' works and his fathers adventures in the military. Very cool if your a fan of Dumas' brand of swashbuckling adventure. =)


I'm a big fan of Dumas, and I somehow hadn't heard of this before. Sounds very interesting, I'll have to check it out!
NaNiwa <3
dmnum
Profile Blog Joined April 2011
Brazil6910 Posts
January 06 2014 18:21 GMT
#18
Reading Einchmann In Jerusalem by Hannah Arendt
corumjhaelen
Profile Blog Joined October 2009
France6884 Posts
January 06 2014 18:32 GMT
#19
Don't do that man, Eichmann was a psychopath, that's all there is to it.
‎numquam se plus agere quam nihil cum ageret, numquam minus solum esse quam cum solus esset
sam!zdat
Profile Blog Joined October 2010
United States5559 Posts
January 06 2014 19:03 GMT
#20
bad:
[image loading]

okay:
[image loading]

brilliant:
[image loading]

starting:
[image loading]

seminar this week:
[image loading]
[image loading]

igne i think freeman early christianity worth checking out
shikata ga nai
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