Currently Reading / Just Read (Books/stories/whatever)
I like Kavalier and Clay, but it's full of Chabonisms. Not unreadable like Yiddish Policeman's union* but you'll still often come across characters who get out of bed to perambulate to the window. There's a bit of what I felt was unjustified political correctness in a transformation one character undergoes but I could have just been naive. Overall it's a very good read if overlong.
*YPU basically introduces a mystery, forgets it exists and then proceeds to develop the following for four hundred pages: "oh waily waily! Americans hate dah Jews, and Russians hate dah Jews, and everyone hate deh Jews! waily waily wa..." mystery solved.
*YPU basically introduces a mystery, forgets it exists and then proceeds to develop the following for four hundred pages: "oh waily waily! Americans hate dah Jews, and Russians hate dah Jews, and everyone hate deh Jews! waily waily wa..." mystery solved.
So, Lone Star, now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb.
- Young Val
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KAVALIER AND CLAY was in dire need of an editor. Easily 1/3 of that book was extraneous. That said, the other 2/3 were very good, but Chabon's best is WONDER BOYS and nothing else he's done has super-duper impressed me.
you snooze, you lose
well I have snozzed and lost
I'm pushing through
I'll disregard the cost
I hear the bells
so fascinating and
I'll slug it out
I'm sick of waiting
and I can
hear the bells are
ringing joyful and triumphant
well I have snozzed and lost
I'm pushing through
I'll disregard the cost
I hear the bells
so fascinating and
I'll slug it out
I'm sick of waiting
and I can
hear the bells are
ringing joyful and triumphant
- Luet
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I really liked that book and this makes me want to go reread it.I finally finished The Curious Incident of the Dog at Nighttime, which took me a little while to get invested in but I found really quite lovely. It was written from the perspective of an autistic 11 year old, and it was a really cool narrative voice. Much recommended if you're in the mood for a change of pace.
As mentioned in the meat thread, over vacation I read The Omnivore's Dilemma by Michael Pollan, followed by Slaughterhouse by Gail Eisnitz.
In the last week or two, I reread Andromeda Strain, inspired by the TNT movie, and then In Defense of Food: An Eater's Manifesto also by Michael Pollan. I'm now about to start Mindless Eating: Why We Eat More Than We Think. I'm on quite the non-fiction kick.
"In the depth of winter, I finally learned that within me there lay an invincible summer." - Albert Camus in Return to Tipasa
- Oliver Dale
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Agreed. And yet I'll keep buying and reading his books because... well... his words are so yummy.KAVALIER AND CLAY was in dire need of an editor. Easily 1/3 of that book was extraneous. That said, the other 2/3 were very good, but Chabon's best is WONDER BOYS and nothing else he's done has super-duper impressed me.
-
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My dad has been bugging me pretty much since I got up here to read Escape from the Box: The Wonder of Human Potential and I repeatedly told him, "maybe later." It's an inspirational book, if you couldn't tell by the title, by a former North Viatnamese POW, retired AF officer Colonel Edward Hubbard.
I finally started reading it.
It's short, only 160 pages long, and a very easy read but it's taking me hours to get through it. I'll only make it a page or two before I put it down, stare off into space, and just start thinking. Lucky for me, it's stuff I need to hear.
If magazines count in this thread, I'm reading Sept. 2007's issue of Runner's World to get tips on how to better handle running in general. Mostly obvious stuff, but some nice little nuggets appear.
Next up on the book list is Shade's Children-Nix, Queste-Sage, and Bid Time Return - Matheson.
I finally started reading it.
It's short, only 160 pages long, and a very easy read but it's taking me hours to get through it. I'll only make it a page or two before I put it down, stare off into space, and just start thinking. Lucky for me, it's stuff I need to hear.
If magazines count in this thread, I'm reading Sept. 2007's issue of Runner's World to get tips on how to better handle running in general. Mostly obvious stuff, but some nice little nuggets appear.
Next up on the book list is Shade's Children-Nix, Queste-Sage, and Bid Time Return - Matheson.
Se paciente y duro; algún día este dolor te será útil.
- lyons24000
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Part two in the Emberverse series. ("The Protector's War"-S.M. Stirling)
Good plot, I just don't like the writing style. Too many details with not enough plot movement. He just wants to make very long books or something.
Would i recommend? Perhaps, depending on the ending of the series.
Rating: 3/5
Good plot, I just don't like the writing style. Too many details with not enough plot movement. He just wants to make very long books or something.
Would i recommend? Perhaps, depending on the ending of the series.
Rating: 3/5
"This must be the end, then."-MorningLightMountain, Judas Unchained
- Wil
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Just read Fahrenheit 451. Great book, fast read. I really liked the Clarisse McClellan character. Quite a bit, actually. I heard that her ending is quite a bit different in the play version for those that don't know. (Read: Opposite of the book.)
Currently working my way through The Fountainhead. I believe it to be, at least at this point, more entertaining than Atlas Shrugged. I'm still about half way through it, but it's quite a large book.
Future plans? I dunno. I'll probably just steal someones highschool summer reading list and finish it off. Books like "The Catcher in the Rye", "Catch-22", "The Scarlet Letter", "King Leopold's Ghost", and "Cradle to Cradle". I don't actually intend to read all of them, but I'll probably knock out a few this summer.
Currently working my way through The Fountainhead. I believe it to be, at least at this point, more entertaining than Atlas Shrugged. I'm still about half way through it, but it's quite a large book.
Future plans? I dunno. I'll probably just steal someones highschool summer reading list and finish it off. Books like "The Catcher in the Rye", "Catch-22", "The Scarlet Letter", "King Leopold's Ghost", and "Cradle to Cradle". I don't actually intend to read all of them, but I'll probably knock out a few this summer.
- Darth Petra
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My summer reading list, submitted for your review (the ones in bold I've read):
1. Mien Kampf, Adolph Hitler
2. The Vicomte de something in French/10 years later, Alexandre Dumas
3. The Man in the Iron Mask, Alexandre Dumas
4. 1984, George Orwell
5. For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemmingway
6. Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
7. Wuthering heights, Emily Brontë
8. The Restaurant at the End of the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
9. Life, the Universe, and Everything, Douglas Adams
10. So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish, Douglas Adams
11. The Mystery of the Yellow Room, Gaston Leroux
12. Louise de something in french, Alexandre Dumas
1. Mien Kampf, Adolph Hitler
2. The Vicomte de something in French/10 years later, Alexandre Dumas
3. The Man in the Iron Mask, Alexandre Dumas
4. 1984, George Orwell
5. For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemmingway
6. Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
7. Wuthering heights, Emily Brontë
8. The Restaurant at the End of the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
9. Life, the Universe, and Everything, Douglas Adams
10. So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish, Douglas Adams
11. The Mystery of the Yellow Room, Gaston Leroux
12. Louise de something in french, Alexandre Dumas
"Death is the only serious preoccupation in life."
- The Count of Monte Cristo
- The Count of Monte Cristo
- Mich
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Wait, no Mostly Harmless? Almost the complete trilogy there.My summer reading list, submitted for your review (the ones in bold I've read):
1. Mien Kampf, Adolph Hitler
2. The Vicomte de something in French/10 years later, Alexandre Dumas
3. The Man in the Iron Mask, Alexandre Dumas
4. 1984, George Orwell
5. For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemmingway
6. Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
7. Wuthering heights, Emily Brontë
8. The Restaurant at the End of the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
9. Life, the Universe, and Everything, Douglas Adams
10. So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish, Douglas Adams
11. The Mystery of the Yellow Room, Gaston Leroux
12. Louise de something in french, Alexandre Dumas
Shell the unshellable, crawl the uncrawlible.
Row--row.
Row--row.
just finished a reread of Guards Guards! I hadn't realized how much of Shrek was cribbed from that book, or I'd forgotten it. made me want to rewatch Shrek actually.
Borders was closed already when I went out to the theatre tonight to see Get Smart.
Borders was closed already when I went out to the theatre tonight to see Get Smart.
So, Lone Star, now you see that evil will always triumph because good is dumb.
-
- Speaker for the Dead
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It's amazing how little Shrek is fromShrek.just finished a reread of Guards Guards! I hadn't realized how much of Shrek was cribbed from that book, or I'd forgotten it. made me want to rewatch Shrek actually.
One Duck to rule them all.
--------------------------------
It needs to be about 20% cooler.
--------------------------------
It needs to be about 20% cooler.
- Darth Petra
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AUGH! I forgot about Mostly Harmless.... The book I have has all of them in it except that one....Wait, no Mostly Harmless? Almost the complete trilogy there.My summer reading list, submitted for your review (the ones in bold I've read):
1. Mien Kampf, Adolph Hitler
2. The Vicomte de something in French/10 years later, Alexandre Dumas
3. The Man in the Iron Mask, Alexandre Dumas
4. 1984, George Orwell
5. For Whom the Bell Tolls, Ernest Hemmingway
6. Don Quixote, Miguel de Cervantes Saavedra
7. Wuthering heights, Emily Brontë
8. The Restaurant at the End of the Galaxy, Douglas Adams
9. Life, the Universe, and Everything, Douglas Adams
10. So Long, and Thanks for all the Fish, Douglas Adams
11. The Mystery of the Yellow Room, Gaston Leroux
12. Louise de something in french, Alexandre Dumas
"Death is the only serious preoccupation in life."
- The Count of Monte Cristo
- The Count of Monte Cristo
- Mich
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Just started reading Symantic Antics, a book about how words change meaning over the years. It's mostly a fun little book, hardly something I would take as gospel; a lot of it seems like original findings or conclusions based off of uses of the words in historical texts, and not from official records of the words (although, honestly, how would one research such things without original research?), but it sure is fun to learn that "arch" as in "archenemy" was used in the 1600s to mean "crafty, cunning, or sly," as in "he is an arch fellow," or that "attic" refers to the Greek architectural style, which would leave an extra story on a building, or that "accolade" originally refers to a knighting ceremony, specifically French knighting ceremonies where the knight would be embraced around the neck, which is the actual translation of accoller.
In case you can't tell, I've only just finished the A's, but it's so fun. Best random gift my mom has ever bought me.
In case you can't tell, I've only just finished the A's, but it's so fun. Best random gift my mom has ever bought me.
Shell the unshellable, crawl the uncrawlible.
Row--row.
Row--row.
- Wind Swept
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Still trudging through Pratchett. Just finished Soul Music, working on Thief of Time.
"Roland was staring at Tiffany, so nonplussed he was nearly minused."
*Philoticweb.net = Phoebe (Discord)
*Philoticweb.net = Phoebe (Discord)
-
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Dude, that should definitely be brought back. We can do it, Mich, me an' you. It'll just take some arch... uh, arch-ness. Archery? Yeah, archery.it sure is fun to learn that "arch" as in "archenemy" was used in the 1600s to mean "crafty, cunning, or sly," as in "he is an arch fellow,"
Proud member of the Canadian Alliance.
dgf hhw
dgf hhw
- Janus%TheDoorman
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- Rei
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Nurk, by Ursula Vernon!
I love how she uses language. The style here is notably more oriented to children than her blog or the captions on her artwork tends to be, but it is still very good and I am enjoying it a lot.
I love how she uses language. The style here is notably more oriented to children than her blog or the captions on her artwork tends to be, but it is still very good and I am enjoying it a lot.
Le coeur a ses raisons que la raison ne connait point.
~Blaise Pascal
私は。。。誰?
Dernhelm
~Blaise Pascal
私は。。。誰?
Dernhelm
- starlooker
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Just read Fairest by Gail Carson Levine (of Ella Enchanted fame). I enjoyed it, although not quite so much as I liked some of her other takes on fairy tales. I appreciated that she was uncompromising in making the heroine unattractive for real. It was a more complex take on beauty than you get in most "beauty is only skin deep" sort of parables, or the sorts of stories in which the heroine is ugly to begin with, but when it ends she's realized her lesson and then gets to be beautiful, all the same. Also, I liked the Wicked Queen being less wicked than young, insecure, capricious, and inexperienced. I wish that the scene from the bonus material where she was seduced into accepting beauty had been left in, somehow, as it gives a foundation to understand her. But, then, I like all my characters to be sympathetic and complex, so that every villain is really a hero in disguise, and sometimes that's not practical within a given genre or detracts from the focus of the book (for people who prefer plots to psychological portraits).
I've been working my way through The Brothers Karamazov this summer and I'm almost finished with it -- I just finished "The Devil." I love Russian literature, I really do. I adore Kolya, insufferable adolescent idiot that he is. The paragraph about Ivan's unnameable depression really spoke to me in my current situation, and one of these days I'll put it in the "Quotes" thread. The various takes on dealing with the vagaries of human nature and suffering are fascinating -- Father Zossima has an idealism close to what I used to have, and that I miss. Also, the chapter "Rebellion" articulated feelings that I have about the state of the world and my understanding of it. It annoys me that in "The Devil" Ivan (and, apparently) the author, keep saying that the ideas are "Stupid" without ever actually refuting them.
I like Dostoevsky quite a bit (much more than Tolstoy). Crime and Punishment was fabulous. I like the way that he shows people acting on the logical outcomes of their ideals, and how quickly that can lead to a sort of madness. I think I'll re-read The Idiot (which I skimmed when I was taking Russian in undergrad) next.
I've been working my way through The Brothers Karamazov this summer and I'm almost finished with it -- I just finished "The Devil." I love Russian literature, I really do. I adore Kolya, insufferable adolescent idiot that he is. The paragraph about Ivan's unnameable depression really spoke to me in my current situation, and one of these days I'll put it in the "Quotes" thread. The various takes on dealing with the vagaries of human nature and suffering are fascinating -- Father Zossima has an idealism close to what I used to have, and that I miss. Also, the chapter "Rebellion" articulated feelings that I have about the state of the world and my understanding of it. It annoys me that in "The Devil" Ivan (and, apparently) the author, keep saying that the ideas are "Stupid" without ever actually refuting them.
I like Dostoevsky quite a bit (much more than Tolstoy). Crime and Punishment was fabulous. I like the way that he shows people acting on the logical outcomes of their ideals, and how quickly that can lead to a sort of madness. I think I'll re-read The Idiot (which I skimmed when I was taking Russian in undergrad) next.
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
into the wind, unafraid.
There's another life out there...
~~Mary Chapin Carpenter
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
into the wind, unafraid.
There's another life out there...
~~Mary Chapin Carpenter
-
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I finished Shade's Children by Garth Nix a few days ago and it was awesome. Not that it's telling the exact same story but it gave me the same chills I got from Life As We Knew It and Hunger Games.
I got two more books from the library (the one I've read was...blegh after Shade's Children) while I eagerly await the 4 I have on hold/en route from the other libraries with bigger/better collections.
So, technically, next up is a Jane Austen inspired book which may or may not be something I get through quickly; I'm more in an (post)apocalyptic mood right now.
Jan, even though the City of Ember books seem to be pretty popular, you just might be the first person I know who's read them. I loved the first, managed to convince myself to finish the second, and never bothered with the third.
I got two more books from the library (the one I've read was...blegh after Shade's Children) while I eagerly await the 4 I have on hold/en route from the other libraries with bigger/better collections.
So, technically, next up is a Jane Austen inspired book which may or may not be something I get through quickly; I'm more in an (post)apocalyptic mood right now.
Jan, even though the City of Ember books seem to be pretty popular, you just might be the first person I know who's read them. I loved the first, managed to convince myself to finish the second, and never bothered with the third.
Se paciente y duro; algún día este dolor te será útil.
- Mich
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Ah, yes, Tales of MU. I have seen the ProjectWonderful ads, and clicked to take a peek, but nothing more. Would you suggest it, zero? I have a bit of an aversion to reading huge blocks of prose, the only reason I've never been able to finish Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom being because of it, but I'll give it a whirl if someone suggests I should.
Shell the unshellable, crawl the uncrawlible.
Row--row.
Row--row.
- lyons24000
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-
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It seems very readable, if that's what you were wondering; I don't like reading large amounts of text on a screen, and I found this not painful at all.Ah, yes, Tales of MU. I have seen the ProjectWonderful ads, and clicked to take a peek, but nothing more. Would you suggest it, zero? I have a bit of an aversion to reading huge blocks of prose
As regards to the actual story and such, I don't really know if I can say one way or the other. I just say if you're looking for something to read, start reading and see how it suits you. (Although I can say that the main character has begun resembling some of the more annoying characteristics of figures like Piro from Megatokyo where I just want to yell at them and make them stop being so passive. this strip demonstrates it well, and I just spent like thirty minutes finding that one link when the rest of this post took less than a minute dammit I'm going to sleep.)
Proud member of the Canadian Alliance.
dgf hhw
dgf hhw
- starlooker
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Just reread "Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight" by Alexandra Fuller. Memoir of a white woman who grew up during the war for independence in Zimbabwe (then Rhodesia). Love it. Makes me laugh, makes me cry, makes me feel like a total wuss for the things I complain about. Strongly recommend.
There's another home somewhere,
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
into the wind, unafraid.
There's another life out there...
~~Mary Chapin Carpenter
There's another glimpse of sky...
There's another way to lean
into the wind, unafraid.
There's another life out there...
~~Mary Chapin Carpenter
- Mich
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I just got every Hellblazer that has yet to be published, and am currently starting from issue #1 (strangely, the Swamp Thing issues where Constantine first showed up are not in the collection). In any case, so far, the conclusions I have reached are thus:
John Constantine is like Samuel Vimes and Hiro Protagonist rolled into one, only in a magical world. Or... or something like that.
I saw the movie a few years ago, and honestly cannot tell you if it at all is as good as the comics. I do seem to remember liking it, though (despite Keanu Reeves not being good at acting alive), so maybe you'll like the comics, too.
John Constantine is like Samuel Vimes and Hiro Protagonist rolled into one, only in a magical world. Or... or something like that.
I saw the movie a few years ago, and honestly cannot tell you if it at all is as good as the comics. I do seem to remember liking it, though (despite Keanu Reeves not being good at acting alive), so maybe you'll like the comics, too.
Shell the unshellable, crawl the uncrawlible.
Row--row.
Row--row.
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