What Are You Reading 2016 - Page 2

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Sermokala

United States14047 Posts

January 05 2016 20:16 GMT

#21

Really enjoyed this pair of series on kindle unlimited. anyony else know a good series or so in the same vein?

Manit0u

Poland17421 Posts

January 09 2016 15:59 GMT

#22

Finished:

Chłopcy (Boys) by Jakub Ćwiek

A story about the Lost Boys from Neverland who have grown up. They returned to the real world where they've formed a motorcycle club/gang (Lost Boys, Neverland Original) led by Tinkerbell (who had some falling out with Peter, due to Wendy - who she calls a whore and throws fits of rage whenever someone mentions her). Kinda funny but not that great. Props to the publisher for including artwork by the author of Boli Blog (blog is super NSFW, you've been warned).

Currently reading:

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Ready Player One by Ernest Cline

Almost done with it now. It's not a bad book but it's not particularly good either. I think like at least half of it could be cut out since it's nothing more than listing of or explanation of 80's pop culture and gaming references.

Overall it feels like worse version of Kostick's Avatar Chronicles.

Edit: Just finished it. Definitely the first 300 pages could've been streamlined a lot more. For the most part it's not that bad if not for all the exposition done wrong (think Star Wars ep 1-3 where inbetween the action everything is explained through boring dialogue).

Planning on reading next:

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Achaja by Andrzej Ziemiański (link to english wikipedia under the title)

Surth

Germany456 Posts

January 12 2016 10:33 GMT

#23

Currently on hiatus but finishing at some point:

Marc Reisner: Cadillac Desert
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Pretty good. Question: would gangsta rap be less spatial if it werent for the water history of Los Angeles?

Currently reading:

Mary Beard - SPQR
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Really interesting. I want to teach a class on the writing of history now

Fredric Jameson - PoMo or why Foucault is my Favorite Hairdresser
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Not sure on this one yet

Coming up Soon:
THE BIBLE
CARL SCHMITT

as you can see, its a very samizdat year for me.

corumjhaelen

France6884 Posts

January 13 2016 17:43 GMT

#24

Repost frol the other thread cause I'm tireeed
Reading :
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Life A User's Manual (George Perec)
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Democracy in America (Alexis de Tocqueville)
One is pretty disappointing so far while the other is amazing and highly recommended. Guess which

Doublemint

Austria8635 Posts

January 13 2016 20:41 GMT

#25

just excellent, translating cicero at school finally paid off :p

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VaultD

Finland85 Posts

January 13 2016 21:25 GMT

#26

I finished East of Eden, which turned out to be quite enjoyable. I might look into reading some more Steinbeck or similar authors in the future. Still, my mind craves some faster gratification, so started something that I picked up a while ago, as this series has been getting some praise recently.

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Carnivorous Sheep

Baa?21244 Posts

January 14 2016 00:10 GMT

#27

Behold my tale of woe, in greentext form.

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Flicky

England2666 Posts

January 14 2016 00:20 GMT

#28

I can probably order that to here and ship it over to you if you want Sheep.

You should read that book there. Want to know what Jerry Berry has to say.

pure.Wasted

Canada4701 Posts

January 14 2016 03:00 GMT

#29

Just finished

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Very good book. It's not quite a biography, as it goes out of its way to cover a ton of Russian political goings-on, starting in the late 80s and ending in 2013. But it is a no-holds-barred indictment of Putin's regime, and a great examination of how autocratic governments in general come into power and then maintain that power.

Starting

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Already read Tess, prepared to be blown away for a second time.

Philozovic

France1677 Posts

January 14 2016 15:00 GMT

#30

Ok I'm back I read a lot in 2015 until October then new job and then I only read Plato Republic (one of the best book I've ever read

I'm starting Soljenitsyne "the house of matriona"

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Plato was really really good, way more accessible than I thought It would be. The definition of morality and justice through the study of the political system of a city still make sence 2500 years later. But it takes a lot of time to digest it, understand it and make it your own.

NibbloniaN

United States377 Posts

January 14 2016 18:16 GMT

#31

A little over half way through this one and I'm loving it so far

RvB

Netherlands6248 Posts

January 14 2016 18:30 GMT

#32

On January 14 2016 02:43 corumjhaelen wrote:
Repost frol the other thread cause I'm tireeed
Reading :
[image loading]

Life A User's Manual (George Perec)
[image loading]

Democracy in America (Alexis de Tocqueville)
One is pretty disappointing so far while the other is amazing and highly recommended. Guess which

I don't know which one you liked but I loved Democracy in America. The 2nd part is better than the first though imo.

Rizare

Canada592 Posts

January 14 2016 18:59 GMT

#33

Currently reading:
+ Show Spoiler [The Black Swan: The Impact of the High…] +

I'm currently reading this book and it sure has shaken many of my beliefs. Still, I'm wondering if I'm taking what he wrote too seriously and that luck isn't that decisive. It's more interesting than I expected.

Books to read:

Candide by Voltaire in French
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De la Démocratie en Amérique (Democracy in America) by Tocqueville in French
+ Show Spoiler +

Alice's Adventures in Wonderland 150th Anniversary Edition with Through the Looking-Glass and What Alice Found There by Lewis Carroll in English
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Novecento: pianiste by Alessandro Baricco in French.
+ Show Spoiler +

Because I keep hearing horror stories about how translations can be horrible without anyone ever noticing it because they can't compare it to the original language, I'll simply add the language I plan to read a book.

corumjhaelen

France6884 Posts

January 14 2016 19:06 GMT

#34

On January 15 2016 03:30 RvB wrote:

Show nested quote +

I don't know which one you liked but I loved Democracy in America. The 2nd part is better than the first though imo.

I thought the beginning was quite horrendous - worst philosophy of history is having no philosophy of history, and here it really showed - but it is getting a lot better since.
Almost finished the Perec though, and I'm going to throw the word masterpiece around.

Nyxisto

Germany6287 Posts

January 17 2016 18:52 GMT

#35

Like it a lot so far. I've read a lot of Murakami over the last year but I can't say that I'm getting tired of it. A lot of his books revolve around the same stuff but it still doesn't get boring for some reason.

goody153

44228 Posts

January 23 2016 04:17 GMT

#36

Just finished the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson

EASILY the best fantasy book series i've ever read so far.(granted i haven't read alot of fantasy series but this one is just miles better than everything that i've read) It was so fucking good it wrapped up neatly and the depth of the characters just increased overtime.

+ Show Spoiler [Mistborn The Hero of Ages Conclusion] +

The scholar(Sazed) who was preaching and studying the things about "the hero of ages" became the hero of age himself lmao.

Now that's an interesting twist of things. Not Vin the expected Hero of Ages no no(though she became a god a bit) .. Not Eland no no

Sazed the dude who preached it became God lol

Also best surprising line ever

"I am, unfortunately, the Hero of Ages." - Sazed at the end of the book

There's also a general opinion that Stormlight is better than his Mistborn series and it's still in the 2nd book . Man i can't wait to read it.

Flicky

England2666 Posts

January 24 2016 10:58 GMT

#37

I finished Toll The Hounds and then The Martian a few days later.

Toll The Hounds basically stayed as good as it was. Certain storylines were some of the best yet (Trygalle Caravan should be a book on its own) but I still don't enjoy other parts as much. Even in amongst the finale of the book there were some boring Tiste Andii whining thrown in. As I said before, the way Anomander Rake is referred to really bugs me for this book. + Show Spoiler +

No one has a bad word to say about him ever and literally everyone's opinion is that he's the best, most infallible being of all time. Oh no one can carry this weight, oh no one can see exactly as her does etc.etc.etc. In a world where even the Gods don't really have a good idea what's happening, this Wunderkind Anomander Rake just harkens back to the world of boring fantasy where the main character is perfect. The lack of grey area (haha because they're not Edur) is just so lame in comparison.

The Martian I read in about three days which I haven't done in a very long time but it hooked me. It wasn't exactly as I expected it to be but it was still a fun read, just fell short of what it could've been. + Show Spoiler +

I was expecting a book about a guy completely stranded on Mars with no way of really getting home and just had to survive while going a little bit crazy. When the book starts out that way, talking about surviving for four~ years all was well. Then suddenly we have a NASA chapter so ok fine, the book is going that way, then later we have a chapter on his crew and we become full hollywood. Watney never seems to experience any kind of emotional break, he's just pretty fine the entire time. Also nothing big ever really happens to him in the grand scheme of things so what works for comedy (his upbeat attitude) sucks for anything more complex than that - he never experiences any huge negatives for more than 5 minutes, he just carries on - not struggling, just quite easily accomplishing everything - he literally wipes out his only contact with the Earth and he's nonplussed. The book then just has him explain a bunch of (interesting) sciency stuff then go full romanticism with everything else. No one has any character depth, there's a needless romance mentioned in passing and the whole thing is ridiculously "mainstream American cinema". The whole world (of people that are very American) band together to save one American? Alright sure. If any other country wrote this book, they'd leave him to die. Anyway, the thing is, you go full realism with the science, then go full romanticism with everything else and that leaves a lot to be desired.

RvB

Netherlands6248 Posts

January 24 2016 11:58 GMT

#38

I think it's important to keep in mind that the malazan book of the fallen series is only a small part in a huge history. + Show Spoiler +

If you read the first book in the Kharkanas trilogy which is about the Tiste he's a lost more human and not as godlike as he is in the fallen series. Basically he's had 1000s of years of experience and development and you're only seeing the end result.

Nyxisto

Germany6287 Posts

January 24 2016 18:42 GMT

#39

I don't get the Martian hype at all, I thought the book read like fan fiction

Mr. Wiggles

Canada5894 Posts

January 25 2016 02:15 GMT

#40

Guess I'll post the stuff I read through the end of 2015, and into the beginning of 2016.

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Slaughterhouse-Five - Kurt Vonnegut

This one was fun. I'm becoming a Vonnegut fan, and need to check out some more of his work. I probably liked Cat's Cradle a little better, overall.

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Neuromancer - William Gibson

Neuromancer is one of my favourite novels, and I enjoyed reading through it again. Since I last read it, I've learned more about computing around the time it was written, and some of the folklore/culture that ended up influencing parts of the novel. I always found that to be one of the interesting points about Neuromancer, that William Gibson didn't really know much about computing or technology, but was able to look at the way we interact with it and extrapolate from that in the novel.

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The Windup Girl - Paolo Bacigalupi

I really liked this book. The world was rich and interesting, and I liked the environmental/genetics bent on science fiction. The intersection between technology and culture in the novel and how it played out in the plot was intriguing as well. I ended up picking up a copy of The Water Knife after reading this, that I'll be reading sometime.

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Dance Dance Dance - Haruki Murakami

The sequel to A Wild Sheep Chase. Whereas Sheep Chase felt almost like magical realism to me, Dance Dance Dance was much more dream-like, and almost nightmarish at times. While I probably liked A Wild Sheep Chase more, I still enjoyed Dance Dance Dance.

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American Gods - Neil Gaiman

This is my first Gaiman novel. I can't say I'm a huge fan of his writing style here, there were just some things that put me off a little, like his use of metaphors. On the other hand, I enjoyed the story and the themes that were presented, so I was able to look past it. I decided to try another of his novels, and so then I read:

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The Graveyard Book - Neil Gaiman

I enjoyed this. I liked the short story structure of the book, with every episode being a more or less self-contained episode. After the build-up, the Jacks felt a little underwhelming, but they weren't really the focus of the story to begin with. Other than that though, I liked most aspects of the book. On a side note, I feel like I should read more novels with illustrations. Any recommendations?

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Ubik - Philip K. Dick

I read through Ubik in a couple nights. I enjoyed it for the feeling of being a nightmare within a nightmare turning into itself. I liked the limited information I was presented with, and that I only really had the layers of what was happening revealed to me at the same time as Chip. This will be an interesting book to re-read. I also liked the nods towards Bertrand Russell in the novel.

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The Trial - Franz Kafka

This one was interesting. You can definitely tell that the novel was unfinished, with entire sub-plots just started and abandoned. The idea of the all-encompassing and incomprehensible bureaucracy of the court set up the plot pretty well. In the end, nothing K. did seemed to have any effect on the outcome of his case, he was just too insignificant to stand against the inexorable progress of the machine.

However, while a lot of the backdrop of the Trial was interesting, I felt like I was missing a lot of social context that would have helped me understand the novel better. There were some scenarios where I didn't realize what was happening until it was brought up again later, for example the court officials trying to ask K. for a bribe, or that K. had sex with Leni on the floor of the advocate's home. There were also some interactions that didn't seem intuitive to me, like the student and the maid in the attics. I feel like this was mostly a result of being unfamiliar with the social norms of the time, and needing to become better acquainted with Kafka's writing style.

I'm not sure what I'm going to read next. Between Embassy Town and Perdido Street Station what would people here recommend as an introduction to China Mieville?

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