• Ever wanted an RSS feed of all your favorite gaming news sites? Go check out our new Gaming Headlines feed! Read more about it here.

April Book Club

  • Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies - Jared Diamond

    Votes: 28 43.8%
  • Astrophysics for People in a Hurry - Neil DeGrasse Tyson

    Votes: 26 40.6%
  • Inferno: An Anatomy of American Punishment

    Votes: 10 15.6%

  • Total voters
    64
  • Poll closed .
Status
Not open for further replies.

Deleted member 1067

User Requested Account Closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,860
s7kmft.png


Banner provided courteously by Redcrayon !


Join the ResetEra Book Club on Goodreads.


We're going back to the fiction/non fiction rotating months for the book club after this month's Le Guin book. If you guys want to go ahead and recommend books for the next Book Club please go ahead and post! I am keeping a list to have a decent running set of books to go off of for the next months, so nothing is going to be missed and I'll try to get to everything eventually. Just make sure to @ me in the post that way I catch the book and add it to the list. I might catch it anyways, but no promises.

The title for the March Book Club is The Left Hand of Darkness by Ursula K. Le Guin!

41bl2ognhpL.jpg



Ursula K. Le Guin's groundbreaking work of science fiction—winner of the Hugo and Nebula Awards.

A lone human ambassador is sent to Winter, an alien world without sexual prejudice, where the inhabitants can change their gender whenever they choose. His goal is to facilitate Winter's inclusion in a growing intergalactic civilization. But to do so he must bridge the gulf between his own views and those of the strange, intriguing culture he encounters...

Embracing the aspects of psychology, society, and human emotion on an alien world, The Left Hand of Darkness stands as a landmark achievement in the annals of intellectual science


March Book Club - Poll Options


History: Guns, Germs, and Steel: The Fates of Human Societies by Jared M. Diamond

51LVx6UrW5L._SX326_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


In this "artful, informative, and delightful" (William H. McNeill, New York Review of Books) book, Jared Diamond convincingly argues that geographical and environmental factors shaped the modern world. Societies that had had a head start in food production advanced beyond the hunter-gatherer stage, and then developed religion --as well as nasty germs and potent weapons of war --and adventured on sea and land to conquer and decimate preliterate cultures. A major advance in our understanding of human societies, Guns, Germs, and Steel chronicles the way that the modern world came to be and stunningly dismantles racially based theories of human history. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize, the Phi Beta Kappa Award in Science, the Rhone-Poulenc Prize, and the Commonwealth club of California's Gold Medal.


Science: Astrophysics for People in a Hurry by Neil DeGrasse Tyson

51%2BN0v64QkL._SY346_.jpg




What is the nature of space and time? How do we fit within the universe? How does the universe fit within us? There's no better guide through these mind-expanding questions than acclaimed astrophysicist and best-selling author Neil deGrasse Tyson.


But today, few of us have time to contemplate the cosmos. So Tyson brings the universe down to Earth succinctly and clearly, with sparkling wit, in tasty chapters consumable anytime and anywhere in your busy day.


While you wait for your morning coffee to brew, for the bus, the train, or a plane to arrive, Astrophysics for People in a Hurry will reveal just what you need to be fluent and ready for the next cosmic headlines: from the Big Bang to black holes, from quarks to quantum mechanics, and from the search for planets to the search for life in the universe.



Contemporary Social: Inferno: An Anatomy of American Punishment by Robert A. Ferguson

515Qz5mxv4L._SX336_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


America's criminal justice system is broken. The United States punishes at a higher per capita rate than any other country in the world. In the last twenty years, incarceration rates have risen 500 percent. Sentences are harsh, prisons are overcrowded, life inside is dangerous, and rehabilitation programs are ineffective. Police and prosecutors operate in the dark shadows of the legal process--sometimes resigning themselves to the status quo, sometimes turning a profit from it. The courts define punishment as "time served," but that hardly begins to explain the suffering of prisoners.

Looking not only to court records but to works of philosophy, history, and literature for illumination, Robert Ferguson, a distinguished law professor, diagnoses all parts of a now massive, out-of-control punishment regime. He reveals the veiled pleasure behind the impulse to punish (which confuses our thinking about the purpose of punishment), explains why over time all punishment regimes impose greater levels of punishment than originally intended, and traces a disturbing gap between our ability to quantify pain and the precision with which penalties are handed down.

Ferguson turns the spotlight from the debate over legal issues to the real plight of prisoners, addressing not law professionals but the American people. Do we want our prisons to be this way? Or are we unaware, or confused, or indifferent, or misinformed about what is happening? Acknowledging the suffering of prisoners and understanding what punishers do when they punish are the first steps toward a better, more just system.


Previous Book Club Threads:

  • Meditations by Marcus Aurelius (Feb 2018)
  • Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro (Jan 2018)
  • Roadside Picnic by Arkady and Boris Strugatsky (Dec 2017)
  • We Were Eight Years in Power: An American Tragedy by Ta-Nehisi Coates (Nov 2018)
  • Blindness by Jose Saramago (Feb 2014)
  • The Quiet American by Graham Greene (Jan 2014)
  • If on a winter's night a traveler by Italo Calvino (Sept 2013)
  • Lolita by Vladimir Nabokov (July 2013)
  • Atlas Shrugged by Ayn Rand (Feb-Mar 2013)
  • The Brothers Karamazov by Fyodor Dostoyevsky (September 2012)
  • Catch-22, by Joseph Heller (January 2012)
  • The Shadow of the Wind, by Carlos Ruiz Zafón (December 2011)
  • Blood Meridian: Or the Evening Redness in the West, by Cormac McCarthy (Oct 2011)
  • The Master and Margarita, by Mikhail Bulgakov (Sep 2011)
  • The Count of Monte Cristo, by Alexandre Dumas (Aug 2011)
  • Master and Commander, by Patrick O'Brian (July 2011)
  • The Happiness Project, by Gretchen Rubin (June 2011)
  • A Visit from the Goon Squad, by Jennifer Egan (May 2011)
  • The Afghan Campaign, by Steven Pressfield (Apr 2011)
  • Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein (Mar 2011)
  • Flashman, by George MacDonald Fraser (Feb 2011)

-----

Support ERA authors:

Explore
 
Last edited:

BrokenFiction

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,317
ATL
775509.jpg


Written in 1983, before there was even such a thing as the EU, these are great pulpy fun books. There were no rules in the universe. Everything went into the blender and it's fun as hell.
 

RepairmanJack

Member
Oct 27, 2017
7,116
Quoting Xagarath from the previous threadh:
The footnotes are definitely an acquired taste (and lifted from Pratchett), but the first chapter is a poor showcase for the book - it gets somewhat better.
I've just started the sequal, Godsgrave

I would definitely say it immediately picks up after that first chapter. That first one though was just really rough to get through and almost turned me off completely. Not so much because of the subject, it more just felt like someone trying super hard to do something clever and interesting, but it just came off corny and annoying. Since then I've enjoyed it, the footnotes just feel a little too forced and not entirely in the same tone as the section you're reading at the time.
 

Deleted member 8861

User requested account closure
Banned
Oct 26, 2017
10,564
I'll be starting The Left Hand of Darkness once I'm done with Guns, Germs & Steel and Frankenstein.
 
Oct 25, 2017
22,309
Still reading Extreme Cities, of which I am about halfway done.

Its the usual tone of other end of world/climate change type of books detailing the faults of capitalism and neoliberalism in the world.
 

Peru

Member
Oct 26, 2017
6,126
Read Left Hand of Darkness late last year so I'm ready to comment along while paging through my book for reference.
 

Rei Toei

Member
Nov 8, 2017
1,519
Just finished All Systems Red, which felt like a Mass Effect DLC in book form. Kinda enjoyable, though Murderbot as the protagonist is so much more interesting then, well, pretty much everything else.

Not sure what to read next. I think I'm going to dive into this book:


Annet Schaap's Lampje. Children's literature but I've heard high, high praise.
 

Saphirax

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,337
Slightly behind on my reading, but I've managed to finish all of these in February:


Aside from Warhost of Vastmark and The Little Stranger, it was a rather disappointing month. Under the Pendulum Sun was a decent debut and an interesting blend of fae and religion, but certain narrative elements were...very questionable. The Night Stalker was interesting until the climax where it quickly became underwhelming. Collecting Cooper's promising premise was quickly undermined by an uninspired plot.

The Three-Body Problem was mediocre. The ideas it presents are intriguing, but it's obvious from the start that characterization isn't the author's strong suit. I was willing to overlook that and read the other two novels until I found out how misogynistic they were. No thanks.
 

Protome

Member
Oct 27, 2017
15,677
Just gonna quote my last post from the last thread because it made it last night.

61tX5iQ4WtL._SX328_BO1,204,203,200_.jpg


I sat and read through the whole second half of The Lie Tree today. It just ramps up so well and while I figured out the "whodunnit" part pretty early on seeing it all unfold was so great that I just couldn't stop reading it. Definitely going to pick up another couple of Frances Hardinge books.

Next up though I'm reading The Fifth Season by N.K Jemisin.
19161852.jpg

Whether I like this or not will decide whether my next Jemisin book is the sequel to this, the sequel to The Killing Moon or maybe that Mass Effect one she wrote (was that any good?) Regardless, I'm looking forward to sinking my teeth into this one.

Hoping to get through at least The Fifth Season and Under The Pendulum Sun this month. We'll see whether I reach that goal or not though!
 

Forerunner

Resetufologist
The Fallen
Oct 30, 2017
14,578
The selections this month are all interesting. I'm having a hard time deciding.
 

StoveOven

The Fallen
Oct 25, 2017
1,234
Left Hand of Darkness is great. I'm looking forward to seeing what first-time readers in here have to say
 

BrokenFiction

Member
Oct 25, 2017
8,317
ATL
Left Hand of Darkness is great. I'm looking forward to seeing what first-time readers in here have to say

I read it a couple of weeks ago, and the first 20% of the book dragged for me, but I think that was mostly me not being in the right mood to read it. So I put it down for a few days and when I came back to it I was amazed at my newer reaction to it. It was incredible! I burned through the last 80% in a couple of days. I'm glad I didn't give up on it because it really is a modern classic and it would have been criminal to miss out on a story like that.
 

ara

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,001
Continuing Last Argument of Kings, now halfway through. Like someone mentioned in the February thread, there's definitely a bit too much fighting, the big war scale fighting to be specific which is something even Abercrombie can't seem to be able to make interesting (and it seems there's definitely more to come) but other than that, it's fucking amazing so far. Loving it.

The Three-Body Problem was mediocre. The ideas it presents are intriguing, but it's obvious from the start that characterization isn't the author's strong suit.

Unfortunately I have to agree with this. Like you said, the ideas were intriguing and fun and exciting, but everything else was okay at best. I didn't like the way it was written, it was wooden and clunky.
 

Pau

Self-Appointed Godmother of Bruce Wayne's Children
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,838
Currently reading The Possessive Investment in Whiteness. A lot of it is stuff I've already read about in some depth elsewhere, but damn if this shouldn't be required reading in United States schools. Particularly the introduction.

Should grab a copy of The Left Hand of Darkness. It's been years since I've read it and I think it's worth revisiting for the discussion.

Was in between Inferno and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. Chose the latter because it's pretty different from my usual fair.

Under the Pendulum Sun was a decent debut and an interesting blend of fae and religion, but certain narrative elements were...very questionable.
Questionable in what sense?
 

Saphirax

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,337
Currently reading The Possessive Investment in Whiteness. A lot of it is stuff I've already read about in some depth elsewhere, but damn if this shouldn't be required reading in United States schools. Particularly the introduction.

Should grab a copy of The Left Hand of Darkness. It's been years since I've read it and I think it's worth revisiting for the discussion.

Was in between Inferno and Astrophysics for People in a Hurry. Chose the latter because it's pretty different from my usual fair.


Questionable in what sense?

I'll put this under spoilers since there's no other way to explain it.

Incest plays a big role in the book.
 

MrTowel

Member
Oct 25, 2017
174
I'm not reading Armada but I'm experiencing it via proxy by listening to Mike Nelson's book club podcast 372 Pages We'll Never Get Back so my heart goes out to you.
 

fakefaker

Banned
Oct 28, 2017
284
Still plugging away at Homicide: A Year on the Killing Streets by David Simon. It's an amazing read but makes me sad as everything in the book really happened.

18956.jpg
 

Pau

Self-Appointed Godmother of Bruce Wayne's Children
Member
Oct 25, 2017
5,838
I'll put this under spoilers since there's no other way to explain it.

Incest plays a big role in the book.
Thanks for the answer. I'll have to look into it to see if it's worth reading still.
Particularly, if it's an adult and child, nope.
 

Saphirax

Member
Oct 25, 2017
1,337
Thanks for the answer. I'll have to look into it to see if it's worth reading still.
Particularly, if it's an adult and child, nope.

Thankfully they're both adults.
I'd say it's worth a read if you can stomach that. Like I mentioned, it has an interesting take on religion and the fae. Avoid if you're not in the mood for something on the darker side.
 

Karateka

Member
Oct 28, 2017
6,940
Im reading neuromancer at the moment.
The left hand of darkness is actually next on my list along with stranger in a strange land. I want to get through that classics collection.
 

Sibersk Esto

Changed the hierarchy of thread titles
Member
Oct 25, 2017
16,490
Currently reading

Manson
by Jeff Guinn
Columbine by Dave Cullen
All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone by J.K Rowling

Waiting for Left Hand of Darkness to come through my library reservation. Long queue.
 

BLLYjoe25

Banned
Oct 25, 2017
2,969
I bought the four Sally Lockhart books the other day. I like His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman and wanted to read some more of his stuff. I was originally listening to the audiobook for the 1st book but decided to just go buy the paperbacks.
 

gosublime

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,429
I bought the four Sally Lockhart books the other day. I like His Dark Materials by Philip Pullman and wanted to read some more of his stuff. I was originally listening to the audiobook for the 1st book but decided to just go buy the paperbacks.

Have you read the prequel? La Belle Sauvage - it's good but the as the first in a planned new trilogy, will leave you wanting more.
 

ara

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,001
You guys manage to stick with one or two books at a time? I'm reading like 4 or 5 books right now lol.
 
OP
OP

Deleted member 1067

User Requested Account Closure
Banned
Oct 25, 2017
4,860
You guys manage to stick with one or two books at a time? I'm reading like 4 or 5 books right now lol.
I can balance a ton of nonfiction at a time (prefer it actually, to balance viewpoints), but I usually stick to one fiction book at a time. Otherwise I lose the plot.
 

gosublime

Member
Oct 25, 2017
6,429
I can only read one at a time. Only play one game, watch one television series as well - find it easier to get into them that way.
 

ara

Member
Oct 26, 2017
13,001
I guess I should be glad I can easily juggle multiple fiction books, but on the other hand I can be kind of impatient so it also means I keep starting new books all the time and even shorter books can take me weeks to finish cause I keep jumping from book to book. Of course there are books that are just so good that I simply can't read (or play or watch) anything else before I'm finished, but those are rare.
 

SunPie

Banned
Oct 27, 2017
170
The spring weather is kicking in and rather than rereading On the Road for the fifth time I'm about to start Turtle Island, a collection of poems by prominent beat poet Gary Snyder. I've found that since I've started using Twitter it's become increasingly difficult for me to focus while reading a book, so I'm hoping poetry will help ease me back in to it. I've got several books on the backlog right now, including Suttree by Cormac McCarthy and The Sound and the Fury by Faulkner; very excited to read both of these.
 

FRANKEINSTEIN

Member
Oct 27, 2017
4,142
AZ
Finished up I Don't Know What You Know Me From by Judy Greer. It was a cute and breezy read. I don't feel like I know the actress any better.
 

jaekeem

Member
Oct 27, 2017
3,743
just finished First Law Trilogy

I enjoyed it a lot. Abercrombie's great at writing characters. The only one that I think was a little undercooked was Ferro. He kind of seems to be unable to write female POV characters without making them hardass no nonsense killers (reading best served cold now...Monza kind of suffers from this as well). But we'll see as I finish that and the other standalones.

The trilogy is paced kinda weird. The first two books felt like a lot of set up and character development, and then the third just hits the ground running with major battle after major battle. I don't think it's bad though. I quite enjoyed it, especially Glotka/Logen's internal monologues. Jezal's progression was also interesting.
 
Oct 30, 2017
8,967
Finished

23129080.jpg


It was a long ass book. Definitely enjoyed most of it but damn me if it didn't drag at points. I'll read the next one but not any time soon.

Now I'm finishing up I Am Legend.
 
Status
Not open for further replies.