The Currently Reading Thread v. A Clash of Kings

[masterthes]

Reading my first manga with Uzumaki by Juni Ito

[Sacul]

Reading my first manga with Uzumaki by Juni Ito

That's an amazing one

[masterthes]

Well, that was one of the most bizarre, bleak books I've read in recent memory, but it was good. Will definitely be checking more of his stuff in the near future.



Anyway, on to a reread 25 years in the making with To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee. At the school where I work at, one of the classes is doing their yearly reading of Mockingbird, so I want to see how I like it as an adult

[masterthes]

After finishing Mockingbird, I ended up reading The Weird Al Book by Nathan Rabin, which was fairly short, but sweet. I know he has a more full length biography out there which I might read in a few years



Now, reading Life at Hamilton by Mike Anthony, about a guy who worked as a bartender for both In the Heights and Hamilton on Broadway

[masterthes]

Reading my first big book of the year with Moving On by Larry McMurtry. It's been a while since I last read any McMurtry.

[Stadler]

Now, reading Life at Hamilton by Mike Anthony, about a guy who worked as a bartender for both In the Heights and Hamilton on Broadway

Can you report back on this?   I'm curious as to how that's got something broader to say. 

[masterthes]

I DNFed it when he got to Trump winning the election and the whole thing that went on with Pence. I'm not the biggest Trump fan either, but the guy was acting like it was the end of the world

[Sacul]

Well, that was one of the most bizarre, bleak books I've read in recent memory, but it was good. Will definitely be checking more of his stuff in the near future.

Check out Gyo, great stuff.

[Evermind]

The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years by Chinghiz Aitmatov

I read this when I was 15 or 16 years old in college and liked it (probably my second favourite book from my studying days, after Crime and Punishment). I remember it being kinda weird, wintry and also depressive as hell. I realized I forgot almost all of the plot too. Let's see how it holds up 12 years later.

[masterthes]

Well, that was a bust. I gave it a good effort, 600 pages before calling it quits. It just got dull for me.



Anyhow, before checking out the series, I'm reading Lovecraft County by Matt Ruff

[Cool Chris]

How long was the book? 600 pages seems like quite the chunk before DNFing.

Without getting political, just saw To Kill a Mockingbird is on the Progressive's hit list for books they want banned from schools.

[Stadler]

How long was the book? 600 pages seems like quite the chunk before DNFing.

Without getting political, just saw To Kill a Mockingbird is on the Progressive's hit list for books they want banned from schools.

Huh.  My daugher's high school (liberal to a fault; they had a chance to bring the kids to DC and have basically unprecedented access to the White House, but didn't want to associate with the occupants, and this was back before it got really bad; I was pissed that they denied the kids an opportunity of a LIFE TIME to make a dull political "statement" that barely anyone even KNEW about let alone heard) celebrated that book like it was a bible.  They read the original AND the "alternate version" that was released not long ago.

I can't keep up. 

[masterthes]

How long was the book? 600 pages seems like quite the chunk before DNFing.

Without getting political, just saw To Kill a Mockingbird is on the Progressive's hit list for books they want banned from schools.

It was a few pages shy of 1000 pages

[masterthes]

After having watched the documentary on Netflix, I'm now reading The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez by Philip Carlo

[Kwyjibo]

The Pale Horseman by Bernard Cornwell

[masterthes]

Popping my Gene Wolfe cherry with The Knight​​​​

[Sacul]

Going back to the Dark Tower one last time with The Wind Through the Keyhole. Damn I've missed these characters

[Hyperplex]

Have been getting back into more regular reading lately. This past weekend I started The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula Le Guin.

[Cool Chris]

Going back to the Dark Tower one last time with The Wind Through the Keyhole. Damn I've missed these characters

I plan to revisit The Dark Tower at some point. It has been a long time. I have The Wind Through the Keyhole but haven't read it. Are we supposed to read between III and IV, or after VII?

[SchecterShredder]

Going back to the Dark Tower one last time with The Wind Through the Keyhole. Damn I've missed these characters

I plan to revisit The Dark Tower at some point. It has been a long time. I have The Wind Through the Keyhole but haven't read it. Are we supposed to read between III and IV, or after VII?

Chronologically it's Dark Tower 4.5, but really it stands alone so long as you're familiar with the ka-tet. It's good, too. I plan to reread it after i finish this French cycle

[ozzy554]

Finished The Institute by Stephen King. Solid book but pretty much Stephen King by numbers.

Header by Edward Lee: Well this was something. My first foray into uncensored over the top small print horror. Filled with all the poor taste that wouldn't have been accepted at any major publisher.

Currently reading Moving Pictures by Terry Pratchett and Berserk vol. 4 (deluxe edition) by Kentaro Miura

[masterthes]

I thought The Knight was alright, unsure if I want to read the next book, so for now I'm going to read The Queen's Gambit by Walter Tevis

[Evermind]

The Day Lasts More Than a Hundred Years by Chinghiz Aitmatov

I read this when I was 15 or 16 years old in college and liked it (probably my second favourite book from my studying days, after Crime and Punishment). I remember it being kinda weird, wintry and also depressive as hell. I realized I forgot almost all of the plot too. Let's see how it holds up 12 years later.

I honestly have no idea what my literature teacher was thinking because that was way darker and way more depressing than I remembered, and I was 15 years old when she recommended it to me. The whole book is basically sad as hell. There are some uplifting moments only to be overshadowed by the utterly shitty events which are absolutely believable. At the beginning, I was questioning if it's a deliberate choice by the author or life just sucked in post-WWII-Russia, when I finished this, I was convinced it was the latter. There's no happy ending, there's nothing, it's just... life sucks, and as you get old, life still sucks, and your best friends begin to pass away, and you have to bury them, and the memories of the past creep on you, and there are some happy times there, but the good people you knew died way before their time, left their children to be orphans, you wasted your life away, and you're old and there's nothing you can do about it, you can't fix it. This is such a beautifully written book, but it's also so sorrowful I was full-on crying quite a few times when I was reading it.

Time to do some recommendations from this thread, this one is from Shadow Ninja finally, Strange the Dreamer by Laini Taylor

[Cool Chris]

Finished The Institute by Stephen King. Solid book but pretty much Stephen King by numbers.

I thought it started out strong, but then lost me a bit in the second half. To me, it had the feel of a King novel, without feeling like "oh, another King novel." If that makes sense. 

[Hyperplex]

For as much fanfare as Le Guin received, I found The Left Hand of Darkness completely overbearing and needlessly dense. The use of made up words without insight into their meaning, the attempt to illustrate imaginary worlds with pretentiously long, drawn out sentences devoid of impact...I'm not usually hypercritical of books but it was a laborious read for me. I found myself counting the remaining pages.

In a complete shift, I'm now reading Mr. Nobody by Catherine Steadman (unrelated to the Jared Leto film). Psychological thriller with basis in neuroscience and psychiatry. I'm about 80 pages in and enjoying so far.

[masterthes]

First, a milestone: according to Goodreads, I just shelved my 1400th read. Next, I definitely enjoyed The Queen's Gambit, but I don't think I'll be watching the series. On to my next adventure, they have all the Studio Ghibli movies on HBO Max, and I decided it was as good an excuse as any to finally check out Howl's Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones

[masterthes]

Endgame: Bobby Fischer's Remarkable Rise and Fall—From America's Brightest Prodigy to the Edge of Madness by Frank Brady

[Stadler]

On "A Dance With Dragons".  Knowing it doesn't end here REALLY bums me out, but it's so good.  We've got a couple divergences that really interest me.  And so many little tidbits and clues.... like when Melisandre is talking about the "glamour" and she mentions the "little things" that make glamours work, and GRRM throws in a list that includes "a bag of fingerbones" (Davos!).

[Kwyjibo]

Weaveworld by Clive Barker

[Cool Chris]

The Great and Secret Show was the first adult book I ever read. It blew my mind. I instantly sought out his other stuff and ended up with Weaveworld next. It was not as mind-blowing, but still a good read. I was really in to his stuff in high school and college, but after never read anything after Galilee. I just lost interest. I have thought about re-reading something of his, but never got around to it.

[Kwyjibo]

I've never read anything by Clive Barker before. I only know some of those Pinhead movies but can't remember which ones I watched. This was recommended by a friend, and he said it's different than other works by him.

[masterthes]

Answer in the Form of Questions: A Definitive History and Insider's Guide to Jeopardy! by Claire McNear

[masterthes]

Time for some Victorian inspired fiction with Death and Mr. Pickwick by Stephen Jarvis

[Cool Chris]

I've never read anything by Clive Barker before. I only know some of those Pinhead movies but can't remember which ones I watched. This was recommended by a friend, and he said it's different than other works by him.

I believe that is true. The books I read were very fantastical but I believe his works became less so over time. Could be wrong. Again I hadn't read anything since Galilee, which was late 90s maybe(?)

[masterthes]

Since the book I'm reading is 800 pages, here's my January wrapup

January (17)
Surrounded by Enemies by Bryce Zabel 12/31/20 - 1/2 ***
Immortality, Inc. by Robert Sheckley 1/3 ***
Gardens of the Moon by Steven Erikson 1/3 - 1/7 ****
The Best of the Rejection Collection edited by Matthew Diffee 1/7 ***
Election by Tom Perrotta 1/7 - 1/8 ***
Hench by Natalie Zina Walschots 1/8 - 1/10 ****
Uzumaki by Junji Ito 1/10 ****
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee 1/11 - 1/12 *****
The Weird Al Book by Nathan Rabin 1/12 *****
Lovecraft Country by Matt Ruff 1/16 - 1/17 ***
The Night Stalker: The Life and Crimes of Richard Ramirez by Philip Carlo 1/17 - 1/19 ****
The Knight by Gene Wolfe 1/20 - 1/22 ***
The Queen’s Gambit by Walter Tevis 1/22 - 1/24 ****
Howl’s Moving Castle by Diana Wynne Jones 1/24 ***
Endgame by Frank Brady 1/24 - 1/27 ****
Answers in the Form of Questions by Claire McNear 1/27 - 1/28 ****
Backstage with the Original Hollywood Square by Peter Marshall and Adrienne Armstrong 1/28 - 1/29 ****