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Post by Kathleen on Jul 24, 2010 14:33:17 GMT -5
I finally read Neverwhere, finishing it in one nine-hour-sitting (oh how I love planes). I'd been meaning to for next to forever, and I'd heard such good things about it, and kept being reminded by people.
I was a trifle disappointed, I'm not quite sure why. Maybe because the ending was so predictable (but only the very end, so mostly it was okay). Otherwise it was very good, not my favourite of Gaimain's writing, but good, strong on all the key points, plenty original, and I'd recommend it to anyone who likes urban fantasy.
EDIT: And I just realised when I finish the current book I'm reading, it'll make thirty. ^_^
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Post by M is for Morphine on Aug 11, 2010 4:33:03 GMT -5
I recently finished Player Piano.
Oh look, another Vonnegut book. How surprising.
I also read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, which was very good and exceptionally thought-provoking.
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Post by Deleted on Aug 15, 2010 22:59:09 GMT -5
I also read The Handmaid's Tale by Margaret Atwood, which was very good and exceptionally thought-provoking. My sister read that book last year and thought it was quite good as well. I should take a look at it sometime. In my recent and long overdue update, I've added quite a few books (bringing my total to fourteen!), but mostly it's some stuff I've read for school or a compilation of newsletters and bulletins I've been following all year, not much of interest to the masses, except for two things. The first is The Tolkien Reader by JRR Tolkien himself. I found it for forty-seven cents at a used bookstore, and it was the best fifty cents I've ever spent (or had spent on me, rather, since my mom paid the tab, lol). It's a collection of four of his smaller works: A short play; an essay and story duo on fairy stories, which was both enlightening as a writer and quite entertaining; a comedic story called Farmer Giles of Ham, which is perhaps the funniest and most delightful tale I have ever read; and finally a collection of poems from the Red Book, familiar to anyone familiar with his Hobbit books as the originator of those poems about Tom Bombadil. It was a great read and a must for any Tolkien fan! The second was a series of fifteen articles in the New York Times, collectively called "On the Elements of Math," by Steven Strogatz. In each article he takes components of math from simple counting to integral calculus and explains them in an entertaining and clear manner able to be understood by anybody. As a math major myself, I loved this series, and I recommend it to anyone and everyone, especially those who just don't "get" math--the way he explains it, I'd bet you'll come away from it understanding it once and for all! And if not, thoroughly entertained nonetheless. For anyone interested (and I do highly recommend it), the complete series can be found here.
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Post by M is for Morphine on Aug 26, 2010 11:10:21 GMT -5
Finished 'Mumbo Jumbo' by Ishmael Reed, as well as 'The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch' by Phillip K. Dick.
So far all the PKD I've read has been consistently enjoyable, though thematically similar. Alot of vague religious themes and problems with the perception of reality.
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Post by M is for Morphine on Sept 1, 2010 5:17:36 GMT -5
I just finished Jonathan Strange and Mr Norrell by Susanna Clarke. It was not my cup of tea. I was pretty frustrated with it by the time I almost reached the end, but the last 100 pages or so sort of saved it. If you are really into faeries and Jane Austin-type high society, you will probably love the heck out of it, though.
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Post by Chao on Sept 16, 2010 12:19:49 GMT -5
I love vacations as they give me time enough to catch up on my reading. And I found another Penguin book which I could not keep my hands off till I had finished it. It's "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett. As someone who knows only the historical facts about the Segragation and Civil Rights Movement of the 1960s in the US, this book allows a wonderfully lively glimpse behind the pages of the history books. Ordinary and not so ordinary life, risks and prejudices, mixed with a good splash of humour when talking about life in Jackson, Mississippi is what this book is about and I can definitely recommend it to anyone who might be interested in looking behind the scene. Of course it can't tell the complete truth, no book ever can, but it gives the reader a chance to gain a perhaps new view on the topic.
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Post by Serene on Sept 22, 2010 1:27:34 GMT -5
So... I once again let a year go by without doing the amount of reading I had planned to do. There were quite a few unfinished books this year too. However, I just got into a small groove. I read two books fairly quickly, and I am interested. I know that with my workload piling up (for school) I really don't have as much time for reading. But I think I am going to keep up with this, just to see how much I can read in the time from now to the end of the year. (Currently at 3, but I feel like I have read more and just forgot them.)
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Post by natallica on Sept 22, 2010 15:05:39 GMT -5
With very spare time I have at the moment I feel I can never catch up on the reading I currently have on the table. I have so many great recommendations from friends but I feel that it's too much at the moment.
@carmen that faeries and Jane Austin-type high society sounds like it's right up my alley. Hopefully I can pick it put during the next winter break.
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Post by Rikku on Sept 28, 2010 22:26:52 GMT -5
I just finished The Vintner's Luck! =D By Elizabeth Knox. I was beginning to get slightly worried because I was finding it a lot harder to sink into storyworlds than I generally do, but now I'm substantially less worried about that because I've read it more or less constantly from when I bought it yesterday to just now. xD Spent the whole day curled up and happily immersed in vineyards and angels and pretty.
I've been wanting to read this for aaages, because it has the rare quality of being something by an author from my country that actually sounded like something I'd like to read. >.>; Which it was. My favourite genre is fantasy because I find fantasy has the best sense of world, of location, of place; this is one of the best non-fantasy books I've read which still preserves that.
... Well, I mean. It's still fantasy really. xD Angels and stuff. But still. Authors mostly forget that the world is beautiful. Knox doesn't.
The characters are good as well, of course. Particularly the angel. <3 Sympathetic but plainly not human, which is as it should be. So, uh. Definitely not everyone's thing, this, and it's got quite a lot of sex in it, and some sad things happen and people die, but it's just the thing if you want to read a pretty angel book with vineyards in it. ^_^ So, uh. Yeah.
I momentarily forgot how to spell 'beautiful'. *sheepish grin* Pray pretend you didn't notice.
Oh, and apparently the movie's horrible, so avoid that. xD
... Right. =D Off to count down the hours until I'm next in a bookshop so I can buy the dratted sequel.
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Post by Chao on Oct 16, 2010 13:03:04 GMT -5
Finished 'Eleanor of Aquitaine - By the wrath of God, Queen of England' by Alison Weir yesterday. Definitely a book which falls in the category of dry non-fiction, but as like always with such kinds of books, if the subject interests one, one will be fascinated by the book. Which was the case with me and this book. While, due to the lack of contemporary material, the character of that queen did not really come to life down to details like her favourite pastime or some such trivial things on which imagination thrives, the book managed to paint the overall picture, showing the growth of Eleanor from a sometimes mislead young woman to an ambitious and eventually a wise woman. It also clearly depicted the environs and all the mistakes and bad influences these environs could make and be. To me a book I really enjoyed.
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Post by ♥ Lulu on Oct 27, 2010 12:41:07 GMT -5
Finished a couple of books recently;
Rupture by Simon Lelic which was plainly fantastic. Not very known, I found a proof copy in the second-hand charity book store I volunteer in and was intrigued. It's crime...but not crime? It's more drama and general fiction than it is crime, to be honest. It's a nice look at people, and pretty sad, too, the idea of...well, I don't want to give it away XD I do recommend this, though.
Shutter Island by Dennis Lehane. I saw the film when it came out, thought it was about time I read the book. I'm not sure what to recommend doing first; the book or the film. Hm. Both are fantastic quality, and I kind of imprinted the actor's portrayal of the characters onto the book, which I liked, personally. Very good, even though I knew the twist.
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep? by Phillip K Dick for my book club. I've tried to read this a couple of time before, and never got into it, but once you do, it's a fast read. Plenty enjoyable, but not as ground breaking as I was expecting. Nor did I like its...well, I hate to "simple" because it isn't, but although it is complex...it lacks some sort of depth, I think. The ending is very...plain. Yeah.
Currently reading Queen of the darned, which I am adoring :3 I do love Anne Rice. She's the only vampire fiction I read, and her story telling, as well as the way she uses and manipulates history, is just wonderful. It's taking a while to get through, but I'm savouring it ^_^
I'm gonna be starting Ender's Game for my book club come the weekend, too, which'll be interesting. Always meant to get around to reading it!
I have eleven books to read by December if I want to complete this, so it's unlikely, but I've read so much more this year than last year's five, so I'm happy with myself anyway.
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Post by M is for Morphine on Oct 31, 2010 4:12:49 GMT -5
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sleep? by Phillip K Dick for my book club. I've tried to read this a couple of time before, and never got into it, but once you do, it's a fast read. Plenty enjoyable, but not as ground breaking as I was expecting. Nor did I like its...well, I hate to "simple" because it isn't, but although it is complex...it lacks some sort of depth, I think. The ending is very...plain. Yeah. I really liked the book, thought it's one of the rare cases where the movie is actually better. It's not Mr. Dick's best work (I think that might be Valis), but it's certainly his most famous. It's funny to hear that you didn't find it very groundbreaking. I think it's one of those cases where you've seen the copies so many times that the original doesn't seem like much. Recently finished: The Castle of Crossed Destinies by Italo Calvino. More of an exercise in thought and craft than a book of short stories. A lot to think about, but not a lot of meat there. I had fun with it. Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative by Will Eisner There is a reason Will Eisner is so well regarded by comic book fans. In addition to his versatile art style and awesome splash pages, he was also a great teacher. It's awesome to see a pro pour his heart into helping people learn in one little book what took him a lifetime. Understanding Comics by Scott McCloud This is the tome that everyone recommends if you are interested in making comics. I can see why; there is a little of something for everyone. Alternates radically between pretentious twaddle and profound brilliance. The useful moments make it totally worth the trip, though. I was particularly interested in the chapter on conveying a sense of time, as well as the different relationships between panels. The sequel, Reinventing Comics, is up next for me.
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Post by Zylaa on Oct 31, 2010 13:08:41 GMT -5
... So I looked at this thread just now-- odd, that I haven't checked it out so far this year-- and out of curiosity looked at the participant's list. You can imagine my surprise when I saw myself on the list. XD It took me a second to figure out. Lulu was impersonating me when she signed up. Buuuut since I've already read 25 books this year (yes I keep a list >_>), I figure I should join. Sorry for jumping in so late in the game, all. XD I'll add my books soon, I've promised myself I'll finish this one school assignment today--yeah. >_> 1: 2: 3: 4: 5: 6: 7: 8: 9: 10: 11: 12: 13: 14: 15: 16: 17: 18: 19: 20: 21: 22: 23: 24: 25: 26: 27: 28: 29: 30:
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Post by ♥ Lulu on Oct 31, 2010 15:06:31 GMT -5
Just finished Queen of the darned by Anne Rice. Curiously, for a Lestat lover, I found his bits repetitive, and found myself speedreading over paragraphs just to return to the other vampires, and the Legend of the Twins. I think the Legend really shows off Rice's use of fantasy elements, and her story telling techniques. A lot of this book was spoiled for me because I read Pandora not knowing it was packed with spoilers for the whole Chronicles, but it didn't take away from it. I'm not going to lie; I'm going off of Lestat's character as I begin to love the other's more. While I love a bit of arrogance, of so much self-confidence, and - for lack of a better word - swagger, it's just a bit too much for me. His unwillingness to cooperate with even those he made. It's becoming a little predictable. Anyway, I've just begun The Tale of the Body Thief, and hoping that my love is reignited for him. I'm weary of it's modernity, and the fact it's set in the contemporary, 'cause what I love most about Rice is how she steeps her writing in history. We'll see. I really liked the book, thought it's one of the rare cases where the movie is actually better. It's not Mr. Dick's best work (I think that might be Valis), but it's certainly his most famous. It's funny to hear that you didn't find it very groundbreaking. I think it's one of those cases where you've seen the copies so many times that the original doesn't seem like much. I have yet to see the movie! I pretty much lead my book club, and I want us all to watch it so we can compare the two, but we've not really had time for it quite yet, on top of starting our new book. I don't think it was the fact so much has been inspired because of it that caused me to find it not-groundbreaking. I think rather it is the subtlety, if I might use that word, of Dick's writing. It has such a quietness to it - in some ways, it is very elegant. In others, it is simplified and uninteresting. I think here it was just too subtle, particularly the last four or five chapters. Unremarkable is probably a better word for me to use rather than "groundbreaking". I want to try out some of Dick's other writing, too, I'm just not sure where to start, to see if it's just expectations that made me feel it was unsatisfactory. Also, I'm curious -- does this comic book have any words on writing for comics, or just for drawing? I hang around on a lot of comic-makers websites (such as Digital Webbing), but I've not heard of it. You can imagine my surprise when I saw myself on the list. XD It took me a second to figure out. Lulu was impersonating me when she signed up. I can only apologise for that XD I'm just too darned convincing, I guess :3
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Post by M is for Morphine on Nov 1, 2010 5:59:19 GMT -5
I have yet to see the movie! I pretty much lead my book club, and I want us all to watch it so we can compare the two, but we've not really had time for it quite yet, on top of starting our new book. I don't think it was the fact so much has been inspired because of it that caused me to find it not-groundbreaking. I think rather it is the subtlety, if I might use that word, of Dick's writing. It has such a quietness to it - in some ways, it is very elegant. In others, it is simplified and uninteresting. I think here it was just too subtle, particularly the last four or five chapters. Unremarkable is probably a better word for me to use rather than "groundbreaking". I want to try out some of Dick's other writing, too, I'm just not sure where to start, to see if it's just expectations that made me feel it was unsatisfactory. Also, I'm curious -- does this comic book have any words on writing for comics, or just for drawing? I hang around on a lot of comic-makers websites (such as Digital Webbing), but I've not heard of it. It might be good to start with a book of his short stories. You'd get a better idea of his range. Boy howdy, does he ever cover a lot of ground. I seem to remember "Paycheck and Other Classic Stories" having a lot of good ones. If you are looking for his least subtle stuff, you want to go to the end of his life and career. The themes of paranoia and schizophrenia (which he suffered from with increasing severity) appear full force in 'A Scanner Darkly', and are present throughout a lot of his work. VALIS is sort of an autobiography, though I can barely even begin to separate what really happened, what was a schizoid delusion, and what was intentionally made up. Understanding Comics is about the potential and use of comics as a medium, and is not really a straight how-to guide to anything. Graphic Storytelling and Visual Narrative has a lot about story construction that would be good for both a writer and an artist. It even has a helpful section on writing comic scripts when you're not the artist drawing them. I've heard that two great books if you are interested in just the writing side of comics are Screenplay by Syd Field and Alan Moore's Writing for Comics, but I haven't made it up to the library to find out.
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