The Currently Reading Thread v. A Clash of Kings

[ZeppelinDT]

Naked Lunch.  30 pages in and I still have no idea Wtf I’m reading. This has gotta be one of the weirdest books ever.

That's one that has thus far escaped me.

In that you haven't read it yet?  Or that you read it and didn't understand it?  Because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be in the latter category in a few days.

[masterthes]

I'm finished with The Wheel of Time! Going to take a wee bit of a break from fiction and working on The Story of Marvel Studios by Tara Bennett & Paul Terry

[masterthes]

Naked Lunch.  30 pages in and I still have no idea Wtf I’m reading. This has gotta be one of the weirdest books ever.

I can tell you two things wrong with that title [/Simpsons]

[chknptpie]

I'm finished with The Wheel of Time! Going to take a wee bit of a break from fiction and working on The Story of Marvel Studios by Tara Bennett & Paul Terry

Like the first book or the whole series? I'm on book 5.

[hefdaddy42]

Naked Lunch.  30 pages in and I still have no idea Wtf I’m reading. This has gotta be one of the weirdest books ever.

That's one that has thus far escaped me.

In that you haven't read it yet?  Or that you read it and didn't understand it?  Because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be in the latter category in a few days.

Haven't read it yet.

[v_clortho]

Just started Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. Just finished girl and the moon by Mark Lawrence.

[masterthes]

I'm finished with The Wheel of Time! Going to take a wee bit of a break from fiction and working on The Story of Marvel Studios by Tara Bennett & Paul Terry

Like the first book or the whole series? I'm on book 5.

I'm done with the whole series. Finished A Memory of Light. It is done!

[Cool Chris]

Making my way through Wolves of the Calla again. I couldn't remember from my first read a decade ago anything interesting that happened. 200 pages in I realize why. Because nothing interesting happens.

[ZeppelinDT]

Naked Lunch.  30 pages in and I still have no idea Wtf I’m reading. This has gotta be one of the weirdest books ever.

That's one that has thus far escaped me.

In that you haven't read it yet?  Or that you read it and didn't understand it?  Because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be in the latter category in a few days.

Haven't read it yet.

I'm now 150 pages in and still have no idea what's going on.

[chknptpie]

Just started Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. Just finished girl and the moon by Mark Lawrence.

I felt this one was a bit of a slog.

I'm finished with The Wheel of Time! Going to take a wee bit of a break from fiction and working on The Story of Marvel Studios by Tara Bennett & Paul Terry

Like the first book or the whole series? I'm on book 5.

I'm done with the whole series. Finished A Memory of Light. It is done!

I'm into it, but need a break from the series here and there. Is it worth it? lol

[SchecterShredder]

Making my way through Wolves of the Calla again. I couldn't remember from my first read a decade ago anything interesting that happened. 200 pages in I realize why. Because nothing interesting happens.

Personally, i enjoyed the story telling aspect to the todash parts.  This is definitely  the book where the story takes a left turn towards weird, but it grew on me with each re-read. Probably my favorite in the series. Waste Lands has grown on me in a similar way over the years. Gets better each time.  The only one that's consistently bad is Gunslinger. Aside from the Tull section,  that is.

[XJDenton]

I'm listening to The Dictator's Handbook.

[hefdaddy42]

Naked Lunch.  30 pages in and I still have no idea Wtf I’m reading. This has gotta be one of the weirdest books ever.

That's one that has thus far escaped me.

In that you haven't read it yet?  Or that you read it and didn't understand it?  Because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be in the latter category in a few days.

Haven't read it yet.

I'm now 150 pages in and still have no idea what's going on.

Sounds like something I'd like. 

[ZeppelinDT]

Naked Lunch.  30 pages in and I still have no idea Wtf I’m reading. This has gotta be one of the weirdest books ever.

That's one that has thus far escaped me.

In that you haven't read it yet?  Or that you read it and didn't understand it?  Because I'm pretty sure I'm gonna be in the latter category in a few days.

Haven't read it yet.

I'm now 150 pages in and still have no idea what's going on.

Sounds like something I'd like. 

He wrote it sporadically while high on heroin and other drugs over the course of seven or eight years. He’d basically scribble out a few pages here and there, then mail them to his friends back home, and they’d try to assemble it into something resembling a coherent narrative. It’s insanely disjointed. Very post-modern and impressionistic… not much of a “story” at all. But if you like extremely graphic descriptions of sex and masturbation, then you’ll it.

[hefdaddy42]

Hell yeah, motherfucker.

[masterthes]

Just started Rhythm of War by Brandon Sanderson. Just finished girl and the moon by Mark Lawrence.

I felt this one was a bit of a slog.

I'm finished with The Wheel of Time! Going to take a wee bit of a break from fiction and working on The Story of Marvel Studios by Tara Bennett & Paul Terry

Like the first book or the whole series? I'm on book 5.

I'm done with the whole series. Finished A Memory of Light. It is done!

I'm into it, but need a break from the series here and there. Is it worth it? lol

I definitely recommend taking breaks between. I'd say yes, it is very much worth it in the end. Both Jordan and Sanderson stick the landing extremely well, but it is an endeavor

[chknptpie]

I definitely recommend taking breaks between. I'd say yes, it is very much worth it in the end. Both Jordan and Sanderson stick the landing extremely well, but it is an endeavor

I'm really struggling with several of the characters, mostly the women. They're written so flat and generic. They're either doe-eyed and in love or angry over the stupidest things. Nynaeve is particularly unbearable in this 5th book. At least Rand has finally stopped the ole trope of fighting his destiny. I definitely need a break after this one lol

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Wheel of Time to me is like 50% great stuff and 50% annoying bullshit. The way Jordan writes women is a huge part of that; he apparently wanted strong women in the series, but the only way he knew how to do that was to have them all be rude and condescending to everyone. The romances suffer for the same reason; there is evidently only one way for men and women to interact with each other: aggravated and disagreeable all the time but completely in love at the same time for no reason.

Taking a break from the series between books is definitely the way to go, especially if you're feeling frustrated in book 5 which by most accounts is in the strongest stretch of the series. Those problems are not going to go away and in fact will kind of get worse, at least until Sanderson's books at the end.

[Podaar]

It was Jordan’s fixation on corporal punishment between men and women…or woman to woman…or lap sitting as the height of romantic encounters that had me irritated!

[Shadow Ninja 2.0]

Oh yeah, that too. Also the women just get naked at the drop of a hat and we get detailed check-ins on exactly how much cleavage every woman is showing at any given time. I mean I like boobs as much as the next guy, but damn it's just obnoxious. It's a weird sort of Puritan horniness that somehow comes across as more uncomfortable than something much more blatant about including sexuality.

Also so I stay on topic, I'm currently rereading Mark Z. Danielewski's The Familiar, and am saddened all over again that the other planned 22 books seem unlikely to ever be released.

[hefdaddy42]

Michael Mann & Meg Gardiner - Heat 2

[chknptpie]

It is super relieving to see other people had issues with the Wheel of Time lol I feel validate.

Another series I'm working on is The Witcher which I'm very much enjoying. I'm also playing Witcher 3 and it feels super immersive doing them at the same time.

Then for audio books while I'm running, I started over the Throne of Glass series. Its been a couple years since I read the books but I remember enjoying them.

[hefdaddy42]

Wheel of Time is just too long for me to start at this point in my life.

[Sacul]

I'm in the midst of reading a few books and manga/comics:


Fábio Moon, Gabriel Bá Daytripper

Wonderful comic about life and eventual death, following the same guy throw his many possible lives and how they end abruptly.


Roland Barthes Camera Lucida

Philosophy book about the nature of photography, and its impact on the viewer. A tough read for me as I'm not familiar at all with Semiotics and many of the terms escape me so I'm going very slowly through it


Inio Asano City of Light

Short manga about a rich neighborhood that seems to hide a lot of darkness within. Same author as Oyasumi Pun Pun, so it's bleak and depressing heh.


Susan Sontag On Photography

Amazing food for thought, she argues against many of the preconceived notions people have about photographs, how photographers act and see themselves, and much more. A bit of a slow read, but an excellent one so far.

[ZeppelinDT]

Just started The Library: A Fragile History.  Looking forward to this one.

[masterthes]

The Story of Marvel Studios by Tara Bennett & Paul Terry

This was awesome. Absolutely beautiful book to have too by the way. I also ended up finishing The Sandman Omnibus Vol. 1. I doubt I'm going to read the second volume, but you never know. Here's how I'd rank the 5 volumes

5. Dream Country

4. Seasons of Mists

3. A Game of You

2. A Doll's House

1. Preludes & Nocturnes



Next up, after seeing the Elvis movie not that long ago, I wanted to read a bio on the man, so I'm reading The Last Train to Memphis: The Rise of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick. Also, I'm giving myself one last ambitious project before going back to work on the 6th: The Wandering Inn: Book 1 by Pirateaba

[masterthes]

Ending up reading Dan Slott's run on She-Hulk. It was great. Will be checking out Peter David's run next weekend.



Moving on to Careless Love: The Unmaking of Elvis Presley by Peter Guralnick

[axeman90210]

Restarting a full proper Dark Tower readthrough for the first time since the last few books first came out.

Making my way through Wolves of the Calla again. I couldn't remember from my first read a decade ago anything interesting that happened. 200 pages in I realize why. Because nothing interesting happens.

This is one I'll be curious to see how I find when I get to it. I do remember it all basically being build-up to that showdown with the Wolves at the end, but I was so hype for it when I got to that part of the book.

[ZeppelinDT]

Continuing along on the Discworld odyssey, about to start Soul Music

[masterthes]

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

[hefdaddy42]

The Bright Book of Life by Harold Bloom

[masterthes]

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

finally finished last night. It was alright, but one of his weaker recent efforts. was nice to see him return to some fantastical stuff though. Now, moving on to something different with Tomorrow and Tomorrow and Tomorrow by Gabrielle Zevin

[hefdaddy42]

Fairy Tale by Stephen King

[axeman90210]

Ended up with a marathon session to finish off The Drawing of the Three last night. Tonight I start The Wastelands.

[SchecterShredder]

Ended up with a marathon session to finish off The Drawing of the Three last night. Tonight I start The Wastelands.

Two books done....what are your thoughts so far on this read through? Better, worse or about the same as your first time through?