Philotic Web

My roomate got the new (last?) Inheritance novel.
Gonna read it over Thanksgiving Break, though maybe I should brush up on this series that I haven't touched in years...

"Rollback" by Robert J. Sawyer. It can't possibly touch his WWW trilogy but the library didn't have "Flashforward" so...

My roomate got the new (last?) Inheritance novel.

It seems Mr. Paolini can count about as well as he writes. There's four books in his "trilogy".

I've now read all of the published works of Octavia E. Butler, having finally read the novel "Survivor", which Butler didn't allow to be reprinted after its initial printing in 1978. Apparently she decided that she hated it. I agree that it's not one of her best but it's still better than a lot of the crap out there.

How I wish she'd written more. Her themes are a bit repetitive and her take on human nature seems a bit pessimistic, but something about her writing really speaks to me

I'm about halfway through Good Omens. It's not my favorite Gaiman, but I am enjoying it so far. I had a hard time explaining what it was about to my aunt and cousin over Thanksgiving. Anything I came up with in my head just sounded weird.

And I am also reading There's Treasure Everywhere, because Calvin and Hobbes is bomb. I really want to get the complete collection for Christmas. Just waiting for Amazon to have it on sale...

Double-thread post: Just Read/Personal Triumphs No One Else Will Understand - I just finished a book! I am the most awesome person ever for finishing one measly little book!

...

Yeah. I really don't know where all my free time has gone. I used to watch 10 new movies a month up until around July or August. I couldn't find the time now. Anyway. Rambling done.


I finished The Death Cure by James Dashner. I thought it was a great ending to the trilogy. There was one death in particular that saddened the hell out of me Newt's and some confusion on one point how in the hell they found and kept secret this safe haven. I assumed the whole of the earth was thrown into disorder, out of an equilibrium/stasis after solar flares erupted that badly but overall, found it as strong a story as the first two and thought the trilogy was one of the strongest I've read in a while.

Yay! I'm glad you liked the Dashner trilogy too. I'm so bad at reviews and not a good judge of such things, so I'm hesitant to recommend stuff.

I need to find a book to bring to Florida and quick!

I'm reading Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris. I picked up a copy last night when we went to see him speak at a local bookstore. He's every bit as funny in person as he is on paper, or on the radio.

I'm rereading all of Animorphs.

...it's pretty much exactly how I remember, and it's the best nostalgia-bomb ever.

I'm reading Squirrel Seeks Chipmunk by David Sedaris. I picked up a copy last night when we went to see him speak at a local bookstore. He's every bit as funny in person as he is on paper, or on the radio.

I read that awhile ago; I liked it.

I'm re-reading Songmaster, but I'm also in the middle of Jane McGonigal's Reality is Broken as well as some book I downloaded from Kindle for $.99 called Containment, by Christian Cantrell.

It's very rare that I just read one book at a time.

IT'S LIKE CHANNEL SURFING FOR MY MIND

I'm rereading all of Animorphs.

...it's pretty much exactly how I remember, and it's the best nostalgia-bomb ever.

That elicited an "Oh, good grief!" from me. I remember when my kids were so into Animorphs that I had to hide the books. *laugh*

Not that I didn't read a few of them myself.

Just reread Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It was good, again, especially towards the end. However, I feel really let down by the ending every time I read it. I mean, there's this build-up of desperation in Strange about saving his wife -- he goes to such great lengths to do it -- and then when she actually IS saved, it's like he's hearing about a friend's cousin who just got over pneumonia. Not to mention, their meeting at the end, well, is lacking.

And she'll WAIT for him? What kind of crap is that? When he is, by his own admission, not really even TRYING to get out of the dark?

I'm rereading all of Animorphs.

...it's pretty much exactly how I remember, and it's the best nostalgia-bomb ever.

Still enjoy those. Looking forward to reading them to Nom!

That elicited an "Oh, good grief!" from me. I remember when my kids were so into Animorphs that I had to hide the books. *laugh*

Not that I didn't read a few of them myself.

It's funny because, when I first read them, I did so because I fantasized so much about the ability to turn into animals. That was my main draw. I focused entirely on the morphing sequences, read them very carefully, memorized even a few of them (entirely by accident, just by reading over them so much). Now I hardly even read those parts, and just accidentally skim them, either due to familiarity or lack of interest. What interests me are the sci-fi concepts, and how well (and, in many cases, poorly) they're implemented. The study of the alien cultures. The silly plot holes. The decent character development and fun interactions. Those are the reasons I'm getting so much out of this reread.

Hmm, these sound like something my 9yo niece would like. She loves the whole werewolf idea and animals and aliens and such. What age range are they for? I don't know anything about animorphs.

Oh, they're perfect for that age! I'm pretty sure that's when I read them. I remember wandering the kids section of the Books a Million looking for the newest ones. They're great books. I only remember bits of them, but I do have one distinct memory of a teenage boy talking about how his favourite picture of his love interest wasn't one where she was all dressed up, it was a candid of her in dirty work clothes on a farm, happily cleaning up after horses.

I like books that tell young girls that boys will love you most when you look what you think is your worst. It's a good life lesson. Much better than a lot of others I've read.

Dance with Dragons- George RR Martin
Grimm's Fairy Tales
Emperor of All Maladies

Oh, man. I wonder if those are on Kindle. I donated my entire collection of Animorphs years ago, but they were so much fun!

Oh, man. I wonder if those are on Kindle. I donated my entire collection of Animorphs years ago, but they were so much fun!

The first five are available on Kindle, which is kind of amazing to me, because in this awesome Reddit interview she was like "I'm not sure if it's ever going to happen. Feel free to download the illegitimate ones!"

She seems like such an awesome lady.

Nomi: I started reading them in third grade, so 9 year-olds should be perfectly okay. They're supposed to be for the middle school-range ones, and can be kind of nightmare-fuel-y sometimes, but otherwise are very simple to read, a great intro to sci-fi, and have tons of awesome animal facts.

They are fun books. My kids were just getting a bit obsessed with them for a while there. *laugh*

I finally finishing drudging through All Clear by Connie Willis. The ending was good, but not worth the 1000+ pages at all (between it and Blackout). I almost didn't last to the end, but I hate not finishing books!

Now I'm reading:

Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand
The Maze Runner by James Dashner

And re-reading:

Shadow of the Hegemon by OSC

I loved Unbroken. Really inspiring and I also love learning about history while reading a great book.

So, I picked up #2-5 of Animorphs for $0.50 a piece at the library book sale this weekend. Her mom ordered the first one. I gave them to her at lunch yesterday at Cracker Barrel. Our waiter saw us looking at them and got so excited. I guess he was a big Animorphs fan. He said "They are why I became an English major!". It was really cute. But she started reading the second one right at the table, after he gave us a quick rundown of the plot of the first one. She sat there all through lunch reading it. She has never read a book on her own before. I'm so excited that this is going to be what finally gets her into reading!

So, I picked up #2-5 of Animorphs for $0.50 a piece at the library book sale this weekend. Her mom ordered the first one. I gave them to her at lunch yesterday at Cracker Barrel. Our waiter saw us looking at them and got so excited. I guess he was a big Animorphs fan. He said "They are why I became an English major!". It was really cute. But she started reading the second one right at the table, after he gave us a quick rundown of the plot of the first one. She sat there all through lunch reading it. She has never read a book on her own before. I'm so excited that this is going to be what finally gets her into reading!

Awesome I loved those books as a kid!

She finished the first (book #2) in one night and is halfway through the second! She hasn't wanted to do anything but read. So cool.

Man, they totally hook you. It's awesome.

I can't say for certain, but they definitely influenced how much I wanted to be a writer, back in the day.

Just spent the day devouring The Ring of Solomon by Jonathan Stroud which was like a prequel adventure to the Bartimaeus Trilogy.
What can I say: Very entertaining read. It was nice exploring the relationship between Bartimaeus and Farquarl thousands or so years before they became bitter enemies...They were basically friendly rivals in this book.

I still love the little footnote-commentary that Barti leaves when narrating his story, his general wittiness and snide remarks, his daring cheekiness, and his resourceful and creative ways of beating stronger spirits. Not to mention, his care for the general well being of the people of a world that routinely enslaves his kind.

I don't know if it's just me, but I often wish that my favorite characters from different book series would meet. And imagine what it would be like. Kvothe and Bartimaeus would be a perfect match in wittiness, and an unstoppable duo in battle. Damn, it'd be awesome if they teamed up and went on crazy adventures. They do in my fantasies.

Also read Dark Calling by Darren Shan. Enjoyed it mostly for the information it revealed about the Demonata, The Old Ones, the War between them, and the cosmic scheme of the entire series. I like how the series stepped up to a cosmic level with them traveling to other planets/worlds in the human universe.(Though they've traveled to countless Demon Universes) Explaining how the Demonata attack other sentient life on other planets, who also constantly struggle to fend them off. Explaining how all life in their Universe, and the Big Bang, started. And the whole desperate attempt to save everyone. I thought it was cool since I wonder about how series with supernatural entities are generally localized on one planet or dimension or whatever. However, and this may also be weird of me, I wonder if aliens throughout any book series universe have to fend off the same supernatural creatures - and apparently they do. Though, I find it kind of funny that the whole fate of their universe lies in the hands of three humans on one planet because Earth is, of course, the center of the whole universe. lol

But seriously though, Kvothe and Bartimaeus need to meet up, exchange insults, gain each other's respect, and then kill an Angel or something else ridiculous and epic. (Kvothe is hinted to kill an angel sometime in the next book, anyways)

... I may own every single Animorphs book.

ETA: Apparently they rereleased the first six books this year with creepy 3D covers.

So, my niece has read the first 6 Animorphs books and is quite obsessed. She is also watching the tv show on youtube. She owns tons of webkinz and has created a Andalite out of a blue deer and snowman. Here it is:

I've read a lot of books in the last month or two, but most were lackluster.


THE MAZE RUNNER by James Dashner.
Picked it up because I was seeing it everywhere and there was, I think, a comparison to HUNGER GAMES in the jacket copy. This was a wonderful premise that was terribly executed. The prose was weak, the main character was flat, and the "romance" made me gag. The slang and the secondary characters however? Great. Sadly, not great enough. Don't know that I'll bother with the remainder of the trilogy.

THE ELEVENTH PLAGUE by Jeff Hirsch
Yet another book I picked up because of an HG tie-in: Suzanne Collins blurbed it. Wonderful opening: bleak, moving. interesting. And then.....it all just slides downhill from there. I wanted to like it, but I just couldn't make it happen. The action was all forced, I could SEE the author prodding her characters into their positions as the book dragged on. I think I just need to give up on dystopia.

BIRTHMARKED by Caragh M O'Brien
Things perked up for me a little bit, with this one. While BIRTHMARKED definitely has it's problems (the fact that it totally swipes much of what makes it interesting from THE HANDMAID'S TALE does not go unnoticed), I like Gaia, the heroine, quite a bit. The plot is mechanical and heavy-handed, but there are some genuinely enjoyable moments in there. I'd consider reading the next book in the series.

THE ADORATION OF JENNA FOX by Mary E. Pearson
I liked this one a lot, until suddenly I didn't. The voice is strong, the characters varied and believable, and the plot/central mystery is gripping. Until everything falls apart 2/3rds of the way through. I really disliked the ending and it sort of ruins the rest of the book for me. Boo.

THE DEMON'S SURRENDER by Sarah Rees Brennan
I started reading this series because I really want to support the author. That said, the series as a whole is really problematic, and the final book in the trilogy is misguided at best. SRB chose the wrong narrator to finish off the story, and that one mistake has a pretty drastic ripple effect. Oh, poor SRB. Next time will be better?

THE GIRL OF FIRE AND THORNS by Rae Carson
Thanks to my publishing connections, I'd been hearing about this book for a year before it was published. THIS IS WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT. This is a great book. <3

MASTIFF by Tamora Pierce
The final book in the Beka Cooper trilogy. It was good, because Pierce is always good. i enjoyed it immensely and it was a nice (gut-wrenching, at times!) ending to story. Not the best book ever, but thoroughly enjoyable.

Just reread Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrell. It was good, again, especially towards the end. However, I feel really let down by the ending every time I read it. I mean, there's this build-up of desperation in Strange about saving his wife -- he goes to such great lengths to do it -- and then when she actually IS saved, it's like he's hearing about a friend's cousin who just got over pneumonia. Not to mention, their meeting at the end, well, is lacking.

And she'll WAIT for him? What kind of crap is that? When he is, by his own admission, not really even TRYING to get out of the dark?

This so much, the build up to Strange saving his wife is so spectacular, you've gone through this amazing journey in the book until then and the pace suddenly picks up and you really experience his franticness, you're never as wrapped up in the book as you are in those pages and then the reader gets no catharsis from the climax, it's really frustrating. I think if i were making a movie I'd have the darkness fall over the period of one day, so you have Strange welcoming his wife back and they spend the day together and as night falls, it stays with Strange. I suppose the ending makes sense in a sort of artistic way, or thematically Clarke is trying to get across that this is the price Strange paid that he had to sacrifice something of himself to save what he loved, and that the sacrifice might be to sacrifice the bit of himself that loved to save the woman he loved--that the cost of faerie is terrible high--and she's trying to counterpoint Strange's behavior with the typical expected 1700s-1800s upper class Britishness of 'stiff upper lip' not giving in to your emotions bullshit in order to emphasize the tragedy that what happens to Strange is something that was common in the real world but we can't clearly see the tragedy without the contrast of setting it in a fantasy but goddammit I don't really care if she's giving us a pisspoor His Dark Materials esque meaningful but unsatisfying ending, it doesn't feel right. And wow, this book has really changed my perception of a certain Shakespeare play. Still think the book is masterful, can't wait to read her next novel, Ladies of Grace Adieu is perhaps even better than JS&MN.

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I too read a TON of animorphs when I was younger, I read them from 6th grade to about mid ninth grade, I got into the mid twenties and never finished the series. I always figured that the series would wind up with a confrontation with Vissar 1 that would reveal 'her' to be working against the yeerks, stopping vissar 3 and it would give Marco some closure. But around the time I gave them up I was fifteen and every time they morphed I would start wondering why the boys never morphed girls to check them out, and that creeped me out so much that I decided it wouldn't be good to keep reading them. :-p



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Has anyone read Ready Player One? I read a description of it yesterday and I'm dying to read it.

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I gave my younger sister Wind Up Bird Chronicle for Christmas, she asked me what it was and I said, "I don't know, but I heard this book is great, the author is one of the most famous living/active writers, and I read one of his other books and it was wierd and wonderful and impressive. I also gave her the home for peculiar children book (with all the creepy photos). I read about five pages on amazon and it'll probably be the next thing I read.

Has anyone read Ready Player One? I read a description of it yesterday and I'm dying to read it.

I've read it and it's fantastic. Such an indulgent mix of 80s geek culture and future-generation MMO gaming. No muss, no fuss, no real complexity or nuance, just a fun, fun read. You'll be glad you read it, and you'll be sorry when it's over. But you won't read it twice.

Currently actively reading:

The Iliad (Robert Fagles Translation)
Crucible of War: The Seven Years' War and the Fate of Empire in British North America, 1754-1766 ( by Fred Anderson)
Flunking Sainthood: A Year of Breaking the Sabbath, Forgetting to Pray, and Still Loving My Neighbor (by Jana Riess)
...and Ender's Shadow.

I've been going through all the Ender books over the past couple weeks, in publication order. I just finished Shadow of the Giant. Gonna read AWoG then EiE. And then SiF when it's released.

After that, however, I'll go back to Game of Thrones and plow through that series.