Author Topic: The Currently Reading Thread v. A Clash of Kings (Read 294954 times)

masterthes · « **Reply #2870 on:** July 16, 2020, 12:40:42 PM »

Getting to know about the Constitution with The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution, 1783-1789 by Joseph J. Ellis

masterthes · « **Reply #2871 on:** July 17, 2020, 06:46:03 PM »

Lock Every Door by Riley Sager. I have never read anything by him, so I'm hoping for a good experience

masterthes · « **Reply #2872 on:** July 19, 2020, 01:23:44 AM »

Getting back into The Boys Omnibus Volume 4 by Garth Ennis

masterthes · « **Reply #2873 on:** July 19, 2020, 11:37:57 AM »

And we're on to volume 5

Cool Chris · « **Reply #2874 on:** July 19, 2020, 11:38:43 AM »

Stephen King The Institute.

Cool Chris · « **Reply #2875 on:** July 19, 2020, 11:51:08 PM »

Quote from: SchecterShredder on July 15, 2020, 12:35:15 PM

Quote from: hefdaddy42 on July 15, 2020, 10:55:22 AM
Quote from: Cool Chris on July 14, 2020, 09:20:33 PM
Blue Moon by Lee Child. Good stuff. Found it more enjoyable than the last couple Reacher novels.
I agree with that assessment.
My only real issue with Blue Moon was the waitress character. Child often struggles to write how a real person would react to so many corpses. She was far too calm and composed for a seemingly regular person witnessing that much murder.

And on that note, you'd think the law works eventually catch up with Reacher? Some of his kills are certainly justifiable homicide, but there's a whole lot of pre-meditated murders along the way

There definitely seemed like a lot more indiscriminate killings in Blue Moon compared to other stories. Reacher always metes his own brand of justice, but it usually isn't so fatal for so many.

masterthes · « **Reply #2876 on:** July 20, 2020, 06:14:38 AM »

Last volume. Hopefully, it'll have a strong ending

masterthes · « **Reply #2877 on:** July 20, 2020, 03:10:11 PM »

Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy

Evermind · « **Reply #2878 on:** July 26, 2020, 08:33:41 AM »

Caved iт and bought an e-book instead of waiting for two months so

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher

masterthes · « **Reply #2879 on:** July 27, 2020, 10:33:50 AM »

100 books down already.

Finally, getting to If It Bleeds by Stephen King. I have had this on hold for three months, so I hope it's worth it

Evermind · « **Reply #2880 on:** July 27, 2020, 10:57:23 AM »

Quote from: Evermind on July 26, 2020, 08:33:41 AM

Caved iт and bought an e-book instead of waiting for two months so

Peace Talks by Jim Butcher

Uh. I guess the decision to split the book in two was mostly marketing decision because this was more like half a book with loads of buildup and no resolution at all. The books is called Peace Talks. Where were the actual peace talks?

It also felt a bit tonally different from the previous Dresden works and the "main plot" of this novel was fairly boring for me.

I hope that Battle Ground will be amazing and redeem this book for me, because this felt like a great example of creating a fantastic premise in the first couple of chapters and then completely blowing it. It was great to see those characters again, and I did enjoy some parts of the book, but this is not a return I was hoping for. Well, hopefully Battle Ground will be better.

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

masterthes · « **Reply #2881 on:** July 28, 2020, 12:00:17 PM »

Highly recommend that new Stephen King anthology, my favorite since Different Seasons. Anyway, yesterday I was browsing the channels, stumbled upon The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, and realized I had never read the graphic novel (which I have heard is far superior), so I'm going to give Volume 1 a try

masterthes · « **Reply #2882 on:** July 28, 2020, 03:21:15 PM »

Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein

Kwyjibo · « **Reply #2883 on:** July 28, 2020, 11:40:04 PM »

Interview With A Vampire by Anne Rice

masterthes · « **Reply #2884 on:** July 29, 2020, 10:37:45 AM »

Two thumbs up for the Heinlein. Reminded me of that Kevin Kline movie Dave. Anyway, time for dragons with A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #2885 on:** July 29, 2020, 01:53:02 PM »

A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms by George R.R. Martin

Evermind · « **Reply #2886 on:** July 30, 2020, 09:44:40 AM »

Quote from: Evermind on July 27, 2020, 10:57:23 AM

The Ocean at the End of the Lane by Neil Gaiman

This was fantastic. Thoroughly enjoyed every page of this short novel, I will be recommending this to my friends. In fact I might give my small mass-market paperback to one of them and buy a fancy hardcover version of this book based on how much I loved it.

Moving onto my first ever read (and I haven't watched the show that came out recently) of

Good Omens by Terry Pratchett and Neil Gaiman

masterthes · « **Reply #2887 on:** July 30, 2020, 06:11:50 PM »

Out From Boneville by Jeff Smith

masterthes · « **Reply #2888 on:** July 30, 2020, 09:51:39 PM »

The Diamond Age by Neal Stephenson. Surprised this is the only book of his to win the Hugo. Hope to enjoy this. I generally like Stephenson. Cryptonomicon is one of my favorite sci-fi books of all time, and I really enjoyed The Rise and Fall of D.O.D.O. from a few years back. I did DNF Fall though, but maybe I'll give that another shot some day

Evermind · « **Reply #2889 on:** July 30, 2020, 10:17:08 PM »

I have Cryptonomicon and Anathem of my reading list, my friend gifted me these two for my last birthday. I should probably get to at least one of them soon.

Sacul · « **Reply #2890 on:** July 31, 2020, 12:11:56 PM »

After almost a year of slacking, I finally finished the House of Leaves letters. Damn what a tragic read, and brilliant book overall. Reading some analysis now I understand more what all those minotaur references mean, and the parallels between both stories. The rabbit hole goes quite deep

Today I began reading Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Really intriguing so far, with some weird stuff going on.

masterthes · « **Reply #2891 on:** July 31, 2020, 05:58:49 PM »

I thought you guys might be interested in what my reading month was like, because you guys see how constantly I post here. Maybe I'll start doing this on the regular if you guys are interested

July (17)
The Revised Vault of Walt by Jim Korkis 6/30 - 7/1 ****
My Anecdotal Life by Carl Reiner 7/2 - 7/3 ****
Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence by John Ferling 7/4 - 7/8 ****
The Sword of Bedwyr by R.A. Salvatore 7/8 - 7/10 ****
These Are The Voyages: TOS Season Two by Marc Cushman 7/10 - 7/14 ****
Small Favor by Jim Butcher 7/14 - 7/16 ****
The Quartet: Orchestrating the Second American Revolution 1783 - 1789 by Joseph J. Ellis 7/16 - 7/17 ****
Lock Every Door by Riley Sager 7/17 - 7/18 ****
The Boys Omnibus Vol. 4 by Garth Ennis 7/19 ****
The Boys Omnibus Vol. 5 by Garth Ennis 7/19 ****
The Boys Omnibus Vol. 6 by Garth Ennis 7/20 ****
Anna Karenina by Leo Tolstoy 7/20 - 7/27 ***
If It Bleeds by Stephen King 7/27 - 7/28 *****
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen, Vol. 1 by Alan Moore 7/28 ****
Double Star by Robert A. Heinlein 7/28 - 7/29 ****
A Natural History of Dragons by Marie Brennan 7/29 - 7/30 ****
Out from Boneville by Jeff Smith 7/30 ***

Shadow Ninja 2.0 · « **Reply #2892 on:** July 31, 2020, 10:11:59 PM »

Quote from: Sacul on July 31, 2020, 12:11:56 PM

After almost a year of slacking, I finally finished the House of Leaves letters. Damn what a tragic read, and brilliant book overall. Reading some analysis now I understand more what all those minotaur references mean, and the parallels between both stories. The rabbit hole goes quite deep

Today I began reading Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Really intriguing so far, with some weird stuff going on.

House of Leaves is one of my favorite books. I love Danielewski's other series The Familiar as well, although it looks like it's not going to continue.

Cool Chris · « **Reply #2893 on:** July 31, 2020, 11:39:45 PM »

Quote from: masterthes on July 31, 2020, 05:58:49 PM

I thought you guys might be interested in what my reading month was like, because you guys see how constantly I post here. Maybe I'll start doing this on the regular if you guys are interested

Do it!

Can you elaborate on your thoughts of The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen? I am not a big graphic novel guy, but am usually intrigued by Moore's work, even if I don't love everything of his I've read.

masterthes · « **Reply #2894 on:** August 01, 2020, 06:16:33 AM »

It's vastly different than the movie and a whole lot better in my view. There was no Tom Sawyer or Dorian Gray (unless they're featured in future volumes). This might be a pretty good starting point for those wanting to get into Moore

ReaperKK · « **Reply #2895 on:** August 01, 2020, 07:02:59 AM »

And On That Bombshell by Richard Porter A fascinating read and insight on my favorite show Top Gear

Sacul · « **Reply #2896 on:** August 01, 2020, 09:23:09 AM »

Quote from: Shadow Ninja 2.0 on July 31, 2020, 10:11:59 PM

Quote from: Sacul on July 31, 2020, 12:11:56 PM
After almost a year of slacking, I finally finished the House of Leaves letters. Damn what a tragic read, and brilliant book overall. Reading some analysis now I understand more what all those minotaur references mean, and the parallels between both stories. The rabbit hole goes quite deep

Today I began reading Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Really intriguing so far, with some weird stuff going on.

House of Leaves is one of my favorite books. I love Danielewski's other series The Familiar as well, although it looks like it's not going to continue.

Oh really? I was looking forward to it

masterthes · « **Reply #2897 on:** August 01, 2020, 12:30:07 PM »

What's going on with that series? Was it too ambitious for him?

Also going to be reading The Umbrella Academy: Apocalypse Suite by Gerard Way. Currently caught up with the show, but I thought I'd check out the books as well, since it looks like they are slightly different from the series

Sacul · « **Reply #2898 on:** August 01, 2020, 06:25:13 PM »

Reading a bit about it seems that it was probably too ambitious (27 books planned!) and hard to sell as the books were very peculiar in how they were made and also pretty long and the audience for them just wasn't big enough to justify the costs. Such a shame, I might give it a try one day anyway.

Shadow Ninja 2.0 · « **Reply #2899 on:** August 01, 2020, 06:31:41 PM »

Whoops, saw this earlier and meant to reply and forgot. I believe the publisher had concerns with the sales numbers. Obviously a 27 book series is incredibly ambitious on its own, and then these were pretty strange books that would probably struggle to pick up new readers the further it went. I also think that the release schedule was just too aggressive. I mean, he was releasing like 2 of these a year, and they're like 800 pages apiece. And sure, a Danielewski page isn't the same as a regular page in terms of wordcount, but that's still a lot of material really fast.

That said, the books are absolutely still worth reading, and I don't think Danielewski's given up on continuing the rest of the story somehow.

ReaperKK · « **Reply #2900 on:** August 02, 2020, 06:47:22 AM »

Quote from: Sacul on July 31, 2020, 12:11:56 PM

After almost a year of slacking, I finally finished the House of Leaves letters. Damn what a tragic read, and brilliant book overall. Reading some analysis now I understand more what all those minotaur references mean, and the parallels between both stories. The rabbit hole goes quite deep

Today I began reading Kafka on the Shore by Haruki Murakami. Really intriguing so far, with some weird stuff going on.

House of Leaves is one of my all time favorite books. I need to go back and re-read it.

masterthes · « **Reply #2901 on:** August 03, 2020, 09:07:49 PM »

An Informal History of the Hugos by Jo Walton

masterthes · « **Reply #2902 on:** August 06, 2020, 08:00:04 AM »

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin

chknptpie · « **Reply #2903 on:** August 06, 2020, 09:07:04 AM »

Quote from: masterthes on August 06, 2020, 08:00:04 AM

The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin

The Dispossessed made a mark on me, but I never gave anything else she wrote a try.

Evermind · « **Reply #2904 on:** August 06, 2020, 09:39:55 AM »

Quote from: chknptpie on August 06, 2020, 09:07:04 AM

Quote from: masterthes on August 06, 2020, 08:00:04 AM
The Lathe of Heaven by Ursula K. Le Guin
The Dispossessed made a mark on me, but I never gave anything else she wrote a try.

The Dispossessed and The Left Hand of Darkness are my favourite Le Guin books. Highly recommend the other.

The Lathe of Heaven is a pretty wild ride, I always enjoyed that one too

News: Welcome back, Mike Portnoy!

Author Topic: The Currently Reading Thread v. A Clash of Kings (Read 294954 times)