What are you currently reading? Post here!

[quote name='Mr Unoriginal']Just finished the Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. I'm not much for mystery but picked it up from all the buzz it was getting. I don't really think I liked it, but on the other hand, I couldn't really put it down. Can't quite put my finger on why. That being said, should I go for the other two books in the trilogy?[/QUOTE]
That's sort of how I felt. Unfortunately, I gave up a little ways into the second. Felt really boring. It still confuses me how that series is so popular. Just doesn't seem that good to me.
 
[quote name='Fjordson']That's sort of how I felt. Unfortunately, I gave up a little ways into the second. Felt really boring. It still confuses me how that series is so popular. Just doesn't seem that good to me.[/QUOTE]

For a mystery, it is really good and a change of pace from the Harry Boschs (which I am currently reading The Reversal because I hadn't realized it came out) or the Kay Scarpettas (Port Mortuary was decent) or Lincoln Rhyme (Bone Collector was the best of the series if you ask me but the recent identity theft one was not too bad) areas of mystery, which seem to saturate the genre currently.

If anybody else is a mystery novel fan, does anybody know the mystery series that follows the Native American dude. The first one was about an archaeology caper that turns into a murder.
 
Yeah, I thought the series was just a great, exciting mystery thriller. Really liked the characters, the dark tone etc. I couldn't put the books down after the first 30% or so of the first one. One of the few books that had me reading more than just at night before sleeping.

But of course to each their own.
 
That's what I've heard! I just hate it as I'm not one of those that remembers details etc. well, so I enjoy series a lot more if I can just read the whole thing all at once.

On that note, how is the Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan? I've heard mixed opinions on that one, but I think that's nearly finally done.
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']That's what I've heard! I just hate it as I'm not one of those that remembers details etc. well, so I enjoy series a lot more if I can just read the whole thing all at once.

On that note, how is the Wheel of Time Series by Robert Jordan? I've heard mixed opinions on that one, but I think that's nearly finally done.[/QUOTE]


As far as Wheel of Time the first 3, maybe 4 books are okay. But after that it just bogs down into endless description, repition of character traits and myriad subplots. The main character drops off the face of the earth. I think I stopped reading around the 7th or 8th book. I might just skip the last books and start reading the last one.

Sort of the same way with Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth. I've read the first 4 and then after reading the plot summaries on Wikipedia I feel like I could easily skip to the last 2 books without missing a thing.
 
[quote name='eldergamer']As far as Wheel of Time the first 3, maybe 4 books are okay. But after that it just bogs down into endless description, repition of character traits and myriad subplots. The main character drops off the face of the earth. I think I stopped reading around the 7th or 8th book. I might just skip the last books and start reading the last one.

Sort of the same way with Terry Goodkind's Sword of Truth. I've read the first 4 and then after reading the plot summaries on Wikipedia I feel like I could easily skip to the last 2 books without missing a thing.[/QUOTE]


Could not agree more. I get the impression that both guys planned a Trilogy but then started expanding the stories and didn't know where to stop. I red the WOT til the 8th(?) book and then saw Jordan died before completing the last book and his widow turned it over to someone else to finish. I'll eventually pcik it up to see how this guy wraps it up.

MY pet peve was that i was reading these as they came out 2-3 years apart and could not for the life of me figure out why they would not put a breif "what has happened so far" in the beggining of the new book to refresh your memory. I would be 1/4 of the way thru til i got cought up on what was going on.
 
[quote name='5of9']
MY pet peve was that i was reading these as they came out 2-3 years apart and could not for the life of me figure out why they would not put a breif "what has happened so far" in the beggining of the new book to refresh your memory. I would be 1/4 of the way thru til i got cought up on what was going on.[/QUOTE]

Hardly any series type books do that--which is why I hate reading series until all the books are out.
 
[quote name='jacobeid']Just finished Alexis De Tocqueville's the old regime and the french revolution. Quite good.[/QUOTE]

Maybe you should read some modern political theorists if you like that topic.
John Rawls (arguably the most influential political philosopher in the 20th century) , John Roemer, Friedrich A. Hayek, and Robert Nozick come to mind. Especially Rawls and Nozick if you liked Alexis de Tocqueville.
 
Reading the new version of Kevin Smith's my boring ass life. Though I read most of this stuff when he was doing his online diary, it's still a great read, I'm excited to get to the Me and my Shadow portion, which talks about Jason Mewes battle with addiction and his friendship with Kevin Smith.
 
[quote name='dobedobedo']The Hobbit![/QUOTE]

To anyone that likes these Tolkien books, what is the draw? What about them is so great? From the first and half of the second book they were not really that good and the story felt dragged. I really want to know what the draw is.
 
[quote name='5of9']MY pet peve was that i was reading these as they came out 2-3 years apart and could not for the life of me figure out why they would not put a breif "what has happened so far" in the beggining of the new book to refresh your memory. I would be 1/4 of the way thru til i got cought up on what was going on.[/QUOTE]

[quote name='dmaul1114']Hardly any series type books do that--which is why I hate reading series until all the books are out.[/QUOTE]

While I can understand not wanting to start on a series of books until the series is completely finished , just in case something ends up happening to the story or the writer or whatever , the whole "what has happened so far" thing isn't that big of a deal. A lot of that info can be found online or on wikipedia or whatever and can make for a good quick refresher course. But it would be nice if more books put in a brief synopsis of previous stories before starting the next one.
 
[quote name='cindersphere']To anyone that likes these Tolkien books, what is the draw? What about them is so great? From the first and half of the second book they were not really that good and the story felt dragged. I really want to know what the draw is.[/QUOTE]

For me it's just extremely well written, a great story with great characters and character development, and it's great escapism due to the level of detail Tolkien put into creating the world and it's history and cultures.

[quote name='StarKnightX']While I can understand not wanting to start on a series of books until the series is completely finished , just in case something ends up happening to the story or the writer or whatever , the whole "what has happened so far" thing isn't that big of a deal. A lot of that info can be found online or on wikipedia or whatever and can make for a good quick refresher course. But it would be nice if more books put in a brief synopsis of previous stories before starting the next one.[/QUOTE]

I suppose that's true. My memory just sucks on entertainment stuff. Many people don't understand re-reading movies or books, but that's just because some people have really good memories and remember every little detail. Where as I'm lucky to remember more than just the major plot points.

For Martin's series, it is more the latter that you talk about that gives me hesitation. He doesn't appear to be in any hurry to write the remaining books, add in his age an obesity and I'm not that optimistic that he'll finish them all before dying.
 
Finished another Rex Stout book


Read it in under a day and a half (mostly read the whole thing last night at work)
Probably my least favorite Nero Wolfe so far. Really just pulled the whole solution out of his giant ass at the last second. And the whole "summon all the suspects and question then until I reveal the murderer" bit in the last 10 pages is getting old.
 
Finished Shantaram by Gregory David Roberts. Fantastic book, highly recommend it.

Up next:

51s8jvbLufL._BO2,204,203,200_PIsitb-sticker-arrow-click,TopRight,35,-76_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg
 
[quote name='The Crotch']Today I start John Dies at the End.[/QUOTE]

Excellent choice. David Wong is brilliant.

EDIT:
Oh right, forgot... Just finished "Earth Abides" from my Fiancé's apocalypse library. Getting back to "A Renegade History of the United States".
 
Griftopia by Matt Taibbi
The War for Late Night by Bill Carter

would like some recommendations for good fiction books people have read recently
 
[quote name='IRHari']
would like some recommendations for good fiction books people have read recently[/QUOTE]


A Song of Ice and Fire series, The World Made by Hand, A Canticle for Leibowitz, Ship of Fools, Island Beneath the Sea, and The Long Ships are among the best I've read recently.
 
The Rising Sun - The Decline and Fall of the Japanese Empire 1936-1945

Another history book by John Toland. Dude hasn't written anything I didn't really enjoy.
 


Although I'm actually reading -just- the Second Book of Swords. It's the earliest in the series the used bookstore had. And it's actually not that bad. First thing I think I've read by Saberhagen. A little generic, cliche sword and sorcery stuff but better than those fantasy novels that require an index and glossary to keep everything straight.
 
"Autobiography of a Brown Buffalo" by Oscar Zeta Acosta, aka DR Gonzo from Fear & Loathing. His prose isn't as strong as Thompson's but his story is also jarringly different
 
[quote name='IRHari']Griftopia by Matt Taibbi
The War for Late Night by Bill Carter

would like some recommendations for good fiction books people have read recently[/QUOTE]

Tell me how griftopia is after you're done with it.
 
Halting State by Charles Stross





'

It's okay so far. Not as good as Accelandro or Iron Sunrise. I love how Stross writes with just no interest in explaining British slang or obscure internet/tecnology refernces. You want to know what those things mean? Look em up yourself, this is a private club it's assumed you already speak the language.
 
Finished the Jerry West bio. Very good read, high recommend to any basketball fan.

Now reading:

41ZgA4wtesL._SL500_AA266_PIkin3,BottomRight,-14,34_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


Interesting so far. Kind of like Gladwell book, draws on research, interviews etc. to make a point. In this case about how to change things (be it things in your business, society or yourself).
 
[quote name='dmaul1114']Finished the Jerry West bio. Very good read, high recommend to any basketball fan.

Now reading:

41ZgA4wtesL._SL500_AA266_PIkin3,BottomRight,-14,34_AA300_SH20_OU01_.jpg


Interesting so far. Kind of like Gladwell book, draws on research, interviews etc. to make a point. In this case about how to change things (be it things in your business, society or yourself).[/QUOTE]

I really liked their book Made to Stick.
 
Finished my run through of the Sherlock Holmes Collections. Good fun, although the shifting details started getting on my nerves. Although I am kinda feel like Holmes retiring as a bartender was kinda random.

Anyway, my new book is the Seven Deadly Sins of Memory by Daniel Schacter.
 
Finished Halting State and started this last night:



About 50 pages in. Feels like very generic fantasy. It's a street urchin with hidden unknown magical powers! :rolls eyes: I'll maybe give it one more try tonight but after that it's back to the used bookstore with you.
 
Just finished The Girl who played with fire and started the Girl who kicked over the hornets nest. not really digging it. I feel the sequals to the Girl with Dragon Tattoo kinda ruined it.
 
Really? I thought (as I've said before here) that The Girl Who Played With Fire was by far the best of the three books.

Dragon Tatoo drug too much for the first 40% or so. If you haven't dug those, you probably won't like the third one. I thought it was the weakest by far with
Lisbeth in the hospital for so much of it
and having some useless sub plots with the Millennium editor going to work for a big newspaper etc. that have nothing to do with the main plot and just drag on.
 
Why not start reading


It's the second book in the series. I've already read the 1st and the 3rd. You'll need to have wikipedia and the offial website open to keep all the races straight. T'Lann Imass, Tistee Andur, Tiste Edlur.

Differeneces between shapesifters that are Soletaken and D''annn. If the book wasn't so dark, bloody, and vicious I wouldnt even bother with all this complicated nonsence.

Reading this also vioaltes my personal "Read Sci-Fi, then Fantasy, then Sci-Fi, then Fantasy," rule. I started the Black Magician the night before but decided it was crap and gave up on it.
 
Just finished Separation of Power and Executive Power by Vince Flynn and amthinking about starting Mission of Honor by David Weber. I recently read Turn Coat, Changes, and Side Jobs, which are the three latest books in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.
 
I don't know why i keep reading those 'Honor Harrington" books by Weber. They're all nearly the same, and I can never understand what's going on in the space battles. The ship exposed its side, fire a missle barrage!
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
bread's done
Back
Top