I also really enjoyed Freedom. Have your read Donna Tartt's Goldfinch? It might be what you are looking for (and I think it is better than Freedom).
Just curious what is the verdict on Franzen's Purity? I have been thinking about giving it a spin.
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Book Club + What Are You Reading? (December 2018)
- Thread starter MilkBeard
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I also really enjoyed Freedom. Have your read Donna Tartt's Goldfinch? It might be what you are looking for (and I think it is better than Freedom).
Just curious what is the verdict on Franzen's Purity? I have been thinking about giving it a spin.
Is Goldfinch better than Tartt's Secret History? Because I wasn't really a fan of that. I've heard great things about Goldfinch, but Secret History made me weary.
I've heard pretty mixed and low things about Purity. I've mostly heard Freedom and The Corrections are his standouts.
Does anyone have Kindle Unlimited recommendations? I signed up during the three months for 99 cents deal. So far I've read The Handmaid's Tale, Beneath a Scarlet Sky, Norse Mythology and The Long Way Down to a Small Angry Planet. Currently reading Born Survivors. Any and all recommendations are welcome.
I think it is better (it seems most critics agree with that) and a lot deeper than Secret History. The Goldfinch stuck with me for a long time (I would re-read certain passages). Also given the time between the 2 books (20+ years), her writing has mature (although I think she only released one other book during that time). Of course you could hate it. The only reason I recommended it was it left me with the same sort of feeling as Freedom.
Another book I think that might fit the bill for you is The Art of Fielding by Chad Harbach,
To be honest I liked Secret History a lot., but it has been years since I read it. Also I am a sucker for books about young adults at private schools (or colleges). I am a sucker for books like Bret Easton Ellis' Rules of Attraction or Chad Kultgen's The Lie.
If I was to read one book from William Gibson, other than Neuromancer, what should I check out? Im going to try Neuromancer first, but I have a feeling its not going to be for me, and I really want to check out something by him. All of his books sound super interesting though lol, so I dont know where to start.
Yeah, thanks for the suggestion. I honestly can't quite remember the exact reason I didn't end up liking Secret History. I think it was that I couldn't get into the characters, or that I didn't really get the feeling of their relationships or something along those lines. I know for sure it had to do with the characters, but not exactly sure what about them.
I've heard enough good things about Goldfinch that I think I need to at least put in on a to-read list.
I only read Neuromancer and didn't really enjoy the experience. Half the time I didn't know what was going on, so it made it hard to care about anything. But it's probably a book that rewards deeper reading and re-reading.
Can't say anything about his other stuff because I was so baffled by Neuromancer. It's a book I know I'm supposed to like as a sci-fi fan, but I just didn't.
I really liked The Goldfinch but basically despised the protagonist. I listened to it on Audible so maybe that coloured my perception of him, but he was just despicable near the end, so hearing him wax poetic about life just came off as disingenuous to me. If I'm remembering that correctly.
But yeah, no denying the beauty of the prose.
But yeah, no denying the beauty of the prose.
Give Virtual Light a try? I actually prefer the Bridge trilogy to the Sprawl.
I love that book! (The Obstacle is the Way) It'll mostly motivate you to just pick up Meditations by Marcus Aurelius.
I have his Daily Stoic, which quotes Aurelius a lot. I'm sure I'll be reading the primary source soon after. That's the only way to go full tech-hipster.
Haha. I'm not in the tech industry, but this is basically what I've heard. Make sure you're getting your daily dose of the Tim Ferris podcast as well, and his smarmy tone of voice.
Sweet I am in, thanks for the rec!This isn't exactly light reading, but it's got something of Dune's scope and ambition, and won the author a Hugo:
Sounds interesting, I am in!I've started The City and the City by China Miéville and I'm super hooked. It's a cross between murder mystery/police procedural and "weird fiction", with supernatural elements. It takes place in two cities which occupy the same place at the same time for mysterious reasons (but not in the way you might think).
Gave up on Do Not Say We Have Nothing by Madeleine Thien after 200 pages. It's a big book with a ton of characters in a interesting time of history, yet the author seemingly made it as dull as possible. Maybe that's a little harsh, but after the first 100 pages I really didn't care about the characters anymore. You are given tidbits of their lives and the briefest of emotions, so this epic novel feels shallow while still trying to pluck at the heartstrings. In a way, it's almost trying to do too much like being overly intricate with the characters and storytelling. It's an award book, but it doesn't tell a good story. I feel bad giving up on it, but I don't care enough for it anymore.
My next read is going to be Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding.
My next read is going to be Her Pretty Face by Robyn Harding.
I finished "Normal people", and I would recommend it for sure. Pretty straight forward love story, but not in a cheesy way, they're very flawed, interesting, and likeable lead characters.
I'll be checking out Sally Rooney's debut novel now, although I have the Hank Green book to read first.
I'll be checking out Sally Rooney's debut novel now, although I have the Hank Green book to read first.
I've been doing some light reading lately. Read The Carrow Haunt and In a Dark, Dark Wood. I wouldn't recommend any of them.
Now, I'm midway through Stone of Farewell, #2 of the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy.
I jumped into this right after finishing the first one. There's a lot to like in this series, the beautiful prose, the world building, a silver-masked all-powerful baleful queen, wolf-riding hobbits and the like but what I like the most is the main character. Mind you, there's a lot of characters, each one with its own motivation but there's one who's clearly above them all, and that's Simon. He's not your martyr-complex hero, he's not your jaded anti-hero either, he's a jerk. A sheltered 15 yo boy, an orphan raised up mostly by women who can't get mad at him in the safest place in the whole realm. Everything is unfair, everyone is against him. Eventually you learn to love the poor fool, when he's thrown in front of dangers he can't understand or watching how he tries to act cool in front of a girl his age and fails miserably.
Now, I'm midway through Stone of Farewell, #2 of the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy.
I jumped into this right after finishing the first one. There's a lot to like in this series, the beautiful prose, the world building, a silver-masked all-powerful baleful queen, wolf-riding hobbits and the like but what I like the most is the main character. Mind you, there's a lot of characters, each one with its own motivation but there's one who's clearly above them all, and that's Simon. He's not your martyr-complex hero, he's not your jaded anti-hero either, he's a jerk. A sheltered 15 yo boy, an orphan raised up mostly by women who can't get mad at him in the safest place in the whole realm. Everything is unfair, everyone is against him. Eventually you learn to love the poor fool, when he's thrown in front of dangers he can't understand or watching how he tries to act cool in front of a girl his age and fails miserably.
Is the best way to read these in order? I love the 40k universe and have read a bunch about it online and in Codexes, and read a few Gaunts Ghosts novels when I was younger as well as playing the tabletop game and Dawn of War etc. I've always been interested in the Horus Heresy story but the sheer amount of books is insane. Are there some skippable ones, or a few must reads that are better than the others and sort of self contained??? I guess I kinda wanna get the basis of events and read some badass Space Marine stories but haven't got time to wade through the whole thing.
Yes, read them in release order. You don't have to worry about the novellas and short stories, they are re-released in the compilation books (those are also numbered).
The 'what to skip' part is pretty hard to say, it's a long series there are quite a few mediocre and even some plain bad books in it.
I'd definitely read the first 5 books for start after those the if you want more, just read them in order.
My 'essentials' list is: 1-5, 9, 12, 14, 15, 18, 19, 24, 27, 28, 29, 34, 36, 39, 41, 44, 46, 47, 48, 49. Just read the sysnopsis of the skipped novels.
There are no compilation books in this, after all these years I can't remember all the short stories, but they are pretty good in general.
I hope it helps.
I've been doing some light reading lately. Read The Carrow Haunt and In a Dark, Dark Wood. I wouldn't recommend any of them.
Now, I'm midway through Stone of Farewell, #2 of the Memory, Sorrow and Thorn trilogy.
I jumped into this right after finishing the first one. There's a lot to like in this series, the beautiful prose, the world building, a silver-masked all-powerful baleful queen, wolf-riding hobbits and the like but what I like the most is the main character. Mind you, there's a lot of characters, each one with its own motivation but there's one who's clearly above them all, and that's Simon. He's not your martyr-complex hero, he's not your jaded anti-hero either, he's a jerk. A sheltered 15 yo boy, an orphan raised up mostly by women who can't get mad at him in the safest place in the whole realm. Everything is unfair, everyone is against him. Eventually you learn to love the poor fool, when he's thrown in front of dangers he can't understand or watching how he tries to act cool in front of a girl his age and fails miserably.
Just chiming in to say that's a wonderful cover for Stone of Farewell. :)
Just...power through the section under the castle. It gets better and more exciting. I swear.
Hahah, yeah I remember someone here (you?) talk about how agonizing that part was in this or one of the earlier threads.
Consider me properly warned.
Are you looking for more true crime or sports bio recommendations or something out of your comfort zone?
I'm catching up on the Gothic classics I haven't read yet with The Monk, which may well be the most overdramatic book I've ever encountered.
I finished Words of Radiance (Stormlight Archive, Book 2). Before I begin Edgedancer, I am going to read The Gone World by Tom Sweterlitsch. One of A.V. Club's books of the year:
"Time travel is a classic science fiction plot element, but it's rarely used so well as in Tom Sweterlitsch's The Gone World. Set in a world where the U.S. Navy has spent decades secretly making jaunts into deep space and the future, the novel follows a Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent who in classic noir fashion starts off investigating a murder and winds up unraveling a much more dramatic mystery. Moving back and forth between 1997 and 2015, her interference in the timeline affects both the lives of the individuals around her and the date of a looming apocalyptic event. Hard science fiction with the pacing of a thriller, the book is filled with visceral descriptions of horrors both alien and manmade, but also delves into much more intimate examinations about how people cope with the knowledge that their future and past are mutable. Proof that superb world building isn't only the domain of extensive series, The Gone World is a neatly self-contained and breezy read. [Samantha Nelson] "
"Time travel is a classic science fiction plot element, but it's rarely used so well as in Tom Sweterlitsch's The Gone World. Set in a world where the U.S. Navy has spent decades secretly making jaunts into deep space and the future, the novel follows a Naval Criminal Investigative Service agent who in classic noir fashion starts off investigating a murder and winds up unraveling a much more dramatic mystery. Moving back and forth between 1997 and 2015, her interference in the timeline affects both the lives of the individuals around her and the date of a looming apocalyptic event. Hard science fiction with the pacing of a thriller, the book is filled with visceral descriptions of horrors both alien and manmade, but also delves into much more intimate examinations about how people cope with the knowledge that their future and past are mutable. Proof that superb world building isn't only the domain of extensive series, The Gone World is a neatly self-contained and breezy read. [Samantha Nelson] "
Read In Cold Blood if you have not done so. His Bloody Project and The North Water are also fantastic recent literary crime novels.
I'll check those out, thank you!
Both? haha I'm not picky
Thanks so much, that helps a lot. I will start with 1-5 and see what I think, then follow your recommendations if I'm ready for more!
Finished Ubo yesterday and it wasn't anything like I was expecting it to be. It didn't really scratch that horror itch for me. The concept was interesting (giant alien roaches experimenting on humans and making them relive the lives of famous evil people) but I felt like it never really did anything with it. The last twenty or so pages was far more interesting then the rest of the book, and I wish the story had focused on what transpired in those twenty pages than what it actually focused on.
I know right? It's the paperback uk edition, I like it much better than the kindle one with the swords which honestly looks quite generic.
I gave up on Children of Time. Got 33% of the way through and realised I was coming up with excuses to myself so that I could avoid reading it which is a sign to put it down. The basic idea is wonderful but I would have liked to have seen it developed a lot better. The book is agonisingly slow to the point that in 200 pages I realised not a huge amount had actually happened yet the cast was completely underdeveloped which is quite a feat to acomplish. I didn't care about any of the characters or really what was going on between the two factions. Perhaps it all comes together later but I won't find out.
I then moved onto Elantris by Brendon Sanderson instead. Already enjoying this a lot but still very early on.
I'm catching up on the Gothic classics I haven't read yet with The Monk, which may well be the most overdramatic book I've ever encountered.
That cover alone screams over-dramatic.
I gave up on Children of Time. Got 33% of the way through and realised I was coming up with excuses to myself so that I could avoid reading it which is a sign to put it down. The basic idea is wonderful but I would have liked to have seen it developed a lot better. The book is agonisingly slow to the point that in 200 pages I realised not a huge amount had actually happened yet the cast was completely underdeveloped which is quite a feat to acomplish. I didn't care about any of the characters or really what was going on between the two factions. Perhaps it all comes together later but I won't find out.
I then moved onto Elantris by Brendon Sanderson instead. Already enjoying this a lot but still very early on.
Good to know, thanks for sharing. I was thinking about getting into this one as the sequel is coming out soon, but maybe I'll just let it stew a bit first before biting.
FINALLY finished The Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley. I really liked it. On to book 2: The Providence of Fire.
Finished Red Rising, yeah, I liked it a good bit. I was surprised at how it essentially turned into a fantasy book rather quickly and the sci-fi expects were barely there.
Enjoyed the writing, lots of interesting plot developments and a pretty cool premise and hook for the second book, I'll definitely be getting the second in the trilogy.
Enjoyed the writing, lots of interesting plot developments and a pretty cool premise and hook for the second book, I'll definitely be getting the second in the trilogy.
I liked the series, I would say, Red Rising was my favorite from the trilogy.
Finished "Portnoy's Complaint" a couple days ago, what an annoying man. But great book.
I'm reading "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond and "Baltasar and Blimunda" by José Saramago (just searched for the english name of this book and found it weird, the original is "Memorial of the Convent").
Both are really interesting, the first try to explain the modern world/societies and the second is a historial fiction that takes place in Portugal at the XVIII century.
I'm reading "Guns, Germs, and Steel" by Jared Diamond and "Baltasar and Blimunda" by José Saramago (just searched for the english name of this book and found it weird, the original is "Memorial of the Convent").
Both are really interesting, the first try to explain the modern world/societies and the second is a historial fiction that takes place in Portugal at the XVIII century.
I'll keep an eye out for when you get to it, be interested in your thoughts as most people seem to like it much more than I do. I really liked the idea but the execution just couldn't keep my interest.
Knee-deep on my fourth consecutive Culture novel
This one is really fun so far despite it feeling like not much has really happened yet. The tone of the book feels closest to Consider Phlebas. I love all the stuff with the Minds in these stories so this book really does it for me.
Use of Weapons, the book i read prior, was excellent and the best so far, IMO, but the actual reading of it was harder to get through due to the structure. I wasn't sure how I felt about it until the end, upon which everything comes into focus and the novel shows its genius. I'm sailing through Excession, though.
This one is really fun so far despite it feeling like not much has really happened yet. The tone of the book feels closest to Consider Phlebas. I love all the stuff with the Minds in these stories so this book really does it for me.
Use of Weapons, the book i read prior, was excellent and the best so far, IMO, but the actual reading of it was harder to get through due to the structure. I wasn't sure how I felt about it until the end, upon which everything comes into focus and the novel shows its genius. I'm sailing through Excession, though.
loved the setting but for some reason hated the main characters.
Still going through A Wizard of Earthsea again, slowly.
Also started Dhalgren. "Prism, Mirror, Lens" wasn't so hard to understand.
Also started Dhalgren. "Prism, Mirror, Lens" wasn't so hard to understand.
There's a Kindle sale on Sci-Fi and Fantasy today: https://www.amazon.com/s/ref=s9_acs...79ce-46f6-a007-32c9f92f4eb4&pf_rd_i=154606011
Any recommendations?
Any recommendations?
I haven't read it myself yet, but I heard that Starfish was an interesting horror/thriller sci-fi novel.
The premise is apparently an energy facility (or some such) was built at the bottom of the ocean, and those manning it were genetically modified to survive the depths below.
Like I said, I can't comment on the quality itself, but the premise seemed unique.
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