Author Topic: The Currently Reading Thread v. A Clash of Kings (Read 289764 times)

Shadow Ninja 2.0 · « **Reply #2765 on:** April 21, 2020, 12:04:48 PM »

I just had Prince of Thorns delivered yesterday, amongst other books. I've been buying books faster than I'm able to read them, so it'll probably be a few months before I get to it, but I've hard good things about Lawrence so I'm interested to see what he's all about.

Also, since I haven't posted in this thread in... ever?, in the past few months I've read:

Brandon Sanderson - Elantris
Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus
Dean Koontz - Odd Thomas
N. K. Jemisin - The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, & The Stone Sky
Steven Erikson - Forge of Darkness
Scott Lynch - The Lies of Locke Lamora

Evermind · « **Reply #2766 on:** April 21, 2020, 12:29:49 PM »

Quote from: Shadow Ninja 2.0 on April 21, 2020, 12:04:48 PM

I just had Prince of Thorns delivered yesterday, amongst other books. I've been buying books faster than I'm able to read them, so it'll probably be a few months before I get to it, but I've hard good things about Lawrence so I'm interested to see what he's all about.

Also, since I haven't posted in this thread in... ever?, in the past few months I've read:

Brandon Sanderson - Elantris
Erin Morgenstern - The Night Circus
Dean Koontz - Odd Thomas
N. K. Jemisin - The Fifth Season, The Obelisk Gate, & The Stone Sky
Steven Erikson - Forge of Darkness
Scott Lynch - The Lies of Locke Lamora

3/6 on this for me, or 5/8 I guess? Contrary to the popular opinion, I love Elantris; The Lies of Locke Lamora is incredible and is one of my favourite books that I blind-bought, and The Broken Earth trilogy blew me away about a year or two ago.

Prince of Thorns was... meh. However it was interesting enough to keep me reading and I loved the second book, King of Thorns, so there's that.

Is Forge of Darkness a part of Malazan series? I couldn't get past Gardens of the Moon but I intend to give it another chance given how high-praised it is.

Shadow Ninja 2.0 · « **Reply #2767 on:** April 21, 2020, 12:57:34 PM »

Yeah, I liked Elantris quite a bit. You can definitely tell it's earlier in his career, but it's still got all the things I like in Brandon's books.

Forge of Darkness is the first in a prequel series in the Malazan world. Regarding Malazan Book of the Fallen in general, I'd definitely recommend giving the series another try, as it's one of my favorites. Some things don't change; Erikson will still drop you into the middle of things and not explain any of it, there are still tons of characters and world details, but the overall quality goes way up after the first book, due to it having been written about 10 years before the second. If you don't like that one (Deadhouse Gates), then the series may just not be for you, which is fair enough.

Podaar · « **Reply #2768 on:** April 21, 2020, 02:26:23 PM »

I disagree that Prince of Thorns is, meh. But I'll be the first to admit that it's a difficult pill to swallow. There's just no one to cheer for, or to identify with. Jorg is such a immoral piece of shit that it makes you feel oily to be dragged along on his adventures. I agree that King of Thorns is way better, and to a smaller extent Emperor of Thorns.

For me, the brilliance of Lawrence lies outside of the "Thorn" books, but I'd still consider them essential fantasy.

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #2769 on:** April 23, 2020, 11:04:23 AM »

Stephen King - If It Bleeds

ReaperKK · « **Reply #2770 on:** April 26, 2020, 07:01:59 AM »

Not really a traditional book but being a huge PF fan I'm reading "All The Songs". It's basically a song by song dissection of every Pink Floyd song. I plan to slowly read it as I listen to PF.

masterthes · « **Reply #2771 on:** April 26, 2020, 02:42:07 PM »

The Name of All Things by Jenn Lyons

masterthes · « **Reply #2772 on:** April 27, 2020, 08:49:51 AM »

I'm also going to be reading Replay: The History of Video Games by Tristan Donovan

Evermind · « **Reply #2773 on:** April 27, 2020, 08:56:50 AM »

Quote from: masterthes on April 26, 2020, 02:42:07 PM

The Name of All Things by Jenn Lyons

Curious to hear how it compares with the first book when you're done with it.

Northern Lion · « **Reply #2774 on:** April 28, 2020, 08:38:25 AM »

So I FINALLY finished reading "The Dragons of Eden" by Carl Sagan. It was good, but I wish it had a little more meat than it did. So I wasn't as engaged as I thought I would be.

I've now begun reading "The Forth Turning" by William Stauss and Neil Howe. I'm only in Chapter 1, but so far it's pretty good.

I might read one more non fiction book after this, and then move back to fiction.

Kwyjibo · « **Reply #2775 on:** April 30, 2020, 10:39:56 AM »

The Gospel According To Luke by Steve Lukather

Cool Chris · « **Reply #2776 on:** April 30, 2020, 10:45:11 AM »

Enjoyed Joyland by Stephen King quite a bit, much more than some of his other recent offerings.

The Deserter by Nelson DeMille.

Northern Lion · « **Reply #2777 on:** April 30, 2020, 11:27:46 AM »

Quote from: Cool Chris on April 30, 2020, 10:45:11 AM

Enjoyed Joyland by Stephen King quite a bit, much more than some of his other recent offerings.

The Deserter by Nelson DeMille.

I haven't read a whole lot by Stephen King, but my favorites are The Green Mile and From a Buick 8. How does Joyland compare?

Cool Chris · « **Reply #2778 on:** April 30, 2020, 11:55:22 AM »

If I've read From a Buick 8 (I think I have but cannot recall anything about it), so cannot speak to that one.

Joyland is a pretty unique entry in the King bibliography. It is part coming of age story, and part whodunit, with a sprinkling of typical King supernatural. The coming of age story I highly enjoyed; the whodunit aspect was just ok, but it isn't the driving force of the novel. There isn't anything spectacular about it. It was just a highly enjoyable read, just the right length (not always the case with his books), a likable narrator, great characters.

masterthes · « **Reply #2779 on:** April 30, 2020, 09:32:56 PM »

Joyland is great. So, about The Name of All Things, it's a solid story. Not as good as the first book, though

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #2780 on:** May 01, 2020, 11:48:01 AM »

Joyland was a great read.

I did not enjoy From A Buick 8 very much at all.

Northern Lion · « **Reply #2781 on:** May 01, 2020, 12:47:45 PM »

Quote from: hefdaddy42 on May 01, 2020, 11:48:01 AM

Joyland was a great read.

I did not enjoy From A Buick 8 very much at all.

I think I'll give Joyland a try then. Why didn't you like From a Buick 8?

chknptpie · « **Reply #2782 on:** May 01, 2020, 12:50:04 PM »

Finished the first two of the MaddAddam Trilogy. Needed a break, so now onto "On the Come Up" and I bought Dune to start that long ass series.

Podaar · « **Reply #2783 on:** May 02, 2020, 05:12:30 AM »

Quote from: Northern Lion on May 01, 2020, 12:47:45 PM

Quote from: hefdaddy42 on May 01, 2020, 11:48:01 AM
Joyland was a great read.

I did not enjoy From A Buick 8 very much at all.

I think I'll give Joyland a try then. Why didn't you like From a Buick 8?

Careful, Brother Lion. One does not question Hef lightly. He is always correct, succinct, and quick to anger.

masterthes · « **Reply #2784 on:** May 02, 2020, 08:42:20 AM »

Superman: The Unauthorized Biography by Glen Weldon

Northern Lion · « **Reply #2785 on:** May 02, 2020, 10:27:26 PM »

Quote from: Podaar on May 02, 2020, 05:12:30 AM

Quote from: Northern Lion on May 01, 2020, 12:47:45 PM
Quote from: hefdaddy42 on May 01, 2020, 11:48:01 AM
Joyland was a great read.

I did not enjoy From A Buick 8 very much at all.

I think I'll give Joyland a try then. Why didn't you like From a Buick 8?

Careful, Brother Lion. One does not question Hef lightly. He is always correct, succinct, and quick to anger.

Thanks, I'll be careful

. However, just so he knows, I'm not questioning his all-reaching supremacy, I'm just curious.

Cool Chris · « **Reply #2786 on:** May 02, 2020, 10:32:07 PM »

I looked up the synopsis for Buick 8. It rang a bell so I am sure I read it. It's strange, sometimes I will thoroughly enjoy reading a King book, but once I put it down I will have forgotten all about it. Other times I will finish one and it will stay in my mind for weeks.

Kwyjibo · « **Reply #2787 on:** May 03, 2020, 04:44:20 AM »

I thought Buick 8 was an okay book. I enjoyed it when I read it, as I do with most of King's books but it's not one I would reread.

masterthes · « **Reply #2788 on:** May 04, 2020, 09:47:03 AM »

In celebration of May the 4th, I'll be reading Splinter of the Mind's Eye by Alan Dean Foster

masterthes · « **Reply #2789 on:** May 04, 2020, 09:39:24 PM »

Well, that didn't last, unfortunately. My next plan was, after reading that excellent Superman book, I've decided to revisit one of my favorite Superman stories: his death and return, starting off with The Death of Superman by Dan Jurgens

Cool Chris · « **Reply #2790 on:** May 04, 2020, 09:48:29 PM »

That bad??

I know you read a ton, do you have a lot of DNFs? Do you have a standard failsafe point where you will feel obligated to finish a book if you get past a certain point?

That can be a general question for all. I rarely put a book away unfinished, but have more lately with my reading time at a premium. I can't justify wasting time on a book I am not enjoying.

masterthes · « **Reply #2791 on:** May 05, 2020, 07:20:48 AM »

The last 5 years, I've been less tolerant of books that I'm on the fence on. I used to give 50 pages leeway, but with this one in particular, I was done by the third chapter. Maybe I just wasn't in the mood for it. I don't know about from the other end. Usually, if I'm more than halfway done, I'm in it to the end

Northern Lion · « **Reply #2792 on:** May 05, 2020, 07:56:17 AM »

If I get 30-50 pages in and it's still not grabing me I might put it down, but more likely I will hold onto it and read bits and pieces here and there until I've finished it. And I will have probably read 2 or 3 other books before I finish the one I'm not really into.

masterthes · « **Reply #2793 on:** May 05, 2020, 08:46:34 AM »

Moving on to my least favorite section of the series, Funeral For a Friend by Dan Jurgens

masterthes · « **Reply #2794 on:** May 05, 2020, 06:26:35 PM »

Moving on to Reign of the Supermen

masterthes · « **Reply #2795 on:** May 06, 2020, 08:56:24 AM »

On to the next one, The Return of Superman

masterthes · « **Reply #2796 on:** May 06, 2020, 01:39:38 PM »

And finally, Doomsday, which I've never read before

hefdaddy42 · « **Reply #2797 on:** May 06, 2020, 03:30:20 PM »

Quote from: Northern Lion on May 02, 2020, 10:27:26 PM

Quote from: Podaar on May 02, 2020, 05:12:30 AM
Quote from: Northern Lion on May 01, 2020, 12:47:45 PM
Quote from: hefdaddy42 on May 01, 2020, 11:48:01 AM
Joyland was a great read.

I did not enjoy From A Buick 8 very much at all.

I think I'll give Joyland a try then. Why didn't you like From a Buick 8?

Careful, Brother Lion. One does not question Hef lightly. He is always correct, succinct, and quick to anger.

Thanks, I'll be careful . However, just so he knows, I'm not questioning his all-reaching supremacy, I'm just curious.

*shrugs* Didn't like it. It wasn't horrible or anything. It never grabbed me, and most of his works do. So it was almost worse than something actively bad (like, say, Tommyknockers); it was just kind of there.

masterthes · « **Reply #2798 on:** May 07, 2020, 07:09:28 AM »

Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher

masterthes · « **Reply #2799 on:** May 08, 2020, 04:20:58 PM »

Taking a small Dresden break and reading The Fifty-Year Mission: The Next 25 Years: From The Next Generation to J. J. Abrams: The Complete, Uncensored, and Unauthorized Oral History of Star Trek by Edward Gross and Mark A. Altman

News: The Gift of Music official video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fae4FQ4McSY

Author Topic: The Currently Reading Thread v. A Clash of Kings (Read 289764 times)