Author Topic: What are you reading?  (Read 845742 times)

Listener

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Reply #500 on: June 23, 2008, 12:29:52 AM
Still working on "The Complete Works of Sherlock Holmes".  Currently up to "The Valley of Fear", the third Holmes novel (after "Study in Scarlet" and "Hound of the Baskervilles").  I don't know if it's because I'm not of the same group that read these in the 1800s and 1900s, but a lot of the time I find that I miss that one tiny clue.  I did catch it in "The Valley of Fear", however -- it didn't go quite the way I thought it would, but it was obvious where Conan Doyle put it in to be found, and I felt rather proud of myself for finding it.

If anyone's into Holmesian stories and would like one with a more fantastical bent, I highly recommend the Lord Darcy stories by Randall Garrett.  Especially the third collection, the one that ends with the train mystery (I forget its name).

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stePH

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Reply #501 on: June 23, 2008, 02:50:54 AM
I might add that fans of Terry Pratchett's and/or Douglas Adams' styles could do worse than to check out Wodehouse, as long as they don't mind a complete lack of SFnality.  I wouldn't be surprised if either or both were influenced in part by Wodehouse.

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wintermute

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Reply #502 on: June 23, 2008, 12:58:21 PM
Currently reading The Da-da-de-da-da Code by Robert Rankin. I got hooked on his stupid modern fantasy (like Terry Pratchett, but set in London, and with more sex) at university, back when he only had four or five books out, and pricked up pretty much everything he wrote as soon as it hit hardback. But, life got busy, and he's got about a half-dozen books out that I've not gotten around to yet.

I can't say I'm as impressed as I used to be. I think he's just coasting these days.

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Reply #503 on: June 24, 2008, 03:35:49 AM
I might add that fans of Terry Pratchett's and/or Douglas Adams' styles could do worse than to check out Wodehouse, as long as they don't mind a complete lack of SFnality.  I wouldn't be surprised if either or both were influenced in part by Wodehouse.

I know for sure that Adams was.  There's an essay reprinted in "Salmon of Doubt" where he lavishes praise on Wodehouse's writing.

Never read Wodehouse.  He's near the top of my own personal "should read" list.

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Reply #504 on: June 24, 2008, 04:37:55 AM
I might add that fans of Terry Pratchett's and/or Douglas Adams' styles could do worse than to check out Wodehouse, as long as they don't mind a complete lack of SFnality.  I wouldn't be surprised if either or both were influenced in part by Wodehouse.

I know for sure that Adams was.  There's an essay reprinted in "Salmon of Doubt" where he lavishes praise on Wodehouse's writing.

Never read Wodehouse.  He's near the top of my own personal "should read" list.

Well, one caveat (apart from the aforementioned complete lack of SFnality): where Pratchett uses the Discworld as a vehicle to poke satire at just about everything under the sun and stars, Wodehouse's satire seems to be aimed entirely at upperclass British society of his time.  Despite being all-American myself, though (and thusly unable to really identify with it,) I still find it great fun to read.

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tpi

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Reply #505 on: June 24, 2008, 09:19:01 AM
Co-worker yesterday foisted a couple of "Christian SF" novels on me: The Rapture Dialogues: Dark Dimension and its sequel (dont' remember the title as I left it at the office), by Terry James.

Talking about "Second coming" books (and films): here is a Second Coming movie that I Strongly Recommend:


The overtly religious people might not like this one too much, though...
Has oneone else seen this?

Link EPized
« Last Edit: June 24, 2008, 10:55:50 AM by Russell Nash »



Alasdair5000

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Reply #506 on: June 24, 2008, 01:51:57 PM
That's about three quarters brilliant and to my mind, collapses in the back twenty minutes.  Definitely worth a watch though.



wintermute

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Reply #507 on: June 24, 2008, 02:08:19 PM
That came out just as I was getting ready to move across the Pond, and I never got around to it. Heard lots of good things about it, though.

Wishlisted.

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Reply #508 on: June 27, 2008, 12:11:55 AM

Just finished The Working Life: The Promise and Betrayal of Modern Work by Joanne B. Ciulla.   

The book is both a historical survey of attitudes toward work in the West and an analysis of the modern workplace.  As might be expected from an author with a background in philosophy, the book is long on pointed questions and short on answers.  However, since I'm in the midst of what might be considered a "mid-life recalibration" of my career, the questions were useful in helping me think through my attitude toward paid employment.   

Next up: Thumbs, Toes and Tears: And Other Traits that Make Us Human by Chip Walter.

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Listener

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Reply #509 on: June 29, 2008, 05:21:08 PM
I posted this on Facebook, but I liked the book so much I'm crossposting here:

I just finished reading this book (The Raw Shark Texts by Steven Hall) last night. It's really good. The prose is sharp and punchy, the ideas are big but manageable, and the story keeps you interested the entire way through. Plus, there's cool lexical and typographical art -- imagine drawing a shark using only words completely unrelated to sharks -- and, for once, I don't feel as though the main character's amnesia is cliche.

If I had problems with the book, they would be these:

* The ending was a little hard for me to grasp.
* The reveal of Scout was a little too choreographed -- I think every reader will see it coming.

But overall I really, really enjoyed it, and I think you will too.  If you ask nicely and can pick it up, I might lend you my copy.

Now reading City of Tiny Lights by Patrick Neate. It's a detective/thriller. Only a few chapters in now.

* Mods, please feel free to modify the Amazon link as needed.
« Last Edit: June 29, 2008, 07:36:50 PM by Russell Nash »

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Reply #510 on: June 29, 2008, 06:10:09 PM
Last week, I read "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow.  I was blown away.  I read a lot of challenging books.  I majored in English Literature.  I think I have a pretty good sense about what's good and what's bad, regardless of whether or not I liked it.  In my opinion, "Little Brother" falls under the category of "Great Book".  I read it with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.  My heart was pounding for hours after I finished it.  It was one of the most powerful books I've ever read.  I put it right up there with "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Hiding Place."

My son, a young adolescent who hates reading, loved the book too. 

Currently, I'm re-reading "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson.  I read it when it first came out in paperback back in the mid-nineties.  Back then, I found it to be a very difficult read.  I really got bogged down in it.  But, as the years have passed, I keep making connections between our modern world and the world of "Snow Crash."  I'm understanding and appreciating this book much more this time.



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Reply #511 on: June 29, 2008, 10:08:28 PM

Currently, I'm re-reading "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson.  I read it when it first came out in paperback back in the mid-nineties.  Back then, I found it to be a very difficult read.  I really got bogged down in it.  But, as the years have passed, I keep making connections between our modern world and the world of "Snow Crash."  I'm understanding and appreciating this book much more this time.

I had just started learning about bit about how computers actually work when I read that, and it really blew my mind (and made it hard for me to be patient with technology) when I read it.


Currently, I'm not really reading anything (though I've had a nice backlog of podcasts to keep me happy while catching up on chores).  I had an old copy of this "Points of View" anthology I picked up somewhere. 

I was kind of skipping around at random, and seemed to pick all of the stories about young people who have some kind of formative experience; a kid who quits his job at the A&P after the manager is mean to some cute girls, a slum-dwelling Irish kid who watches a guy try to hang himself (and fail), a dustbowl era suburban princess who has a brush with a shoplifting Okie girl, and then I finished off with a re-read of "Flowers for Algernon".

Long flight.
« Last Edit: June 30, 2008, 10:27:45 AM by Russell Nash »

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wintermute

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Reply #512 on: June 30, 2008, 12:54:05 AM
The first and last scenes in Snowcrash blow me away. Everything in between, however, is a waste of ink.

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Reply #513 on: June 30, 2008, 12:59:46 AM
The first and last scenes in Snowcrash blow me away. Everything in between, however, is a waste of ink.

If that's the case, then at least it's shorter than his later stuff, right?  :)

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Reply #514 on: June 30, 2008, 01:29:24 AM
I will admit that it's better than The Cryptonomicon, but I quite like Diamond Age and Zodiac. I mean, they weren't as bad as some other books I've read.

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wintermute

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Reply #515 on: June 30, 2008, 02:00:30 AM
So, I'm between books, and I don't have any real tendency to go for anything in particular, so (as I sometimes do) I've opened it up for other people to decide.

If you don't have an LJ account and so can't vote in the poll itself, feel free to vote in a comment.

And don't worry. I have some stuff to tide me over until I decide that it's over and ignore the voting to choose something I feel like at the time ;)

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Tango Alpha Delta

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Reply #516 on: June 30, 2008, 02:05:21 AM
So, I'm between books, and I don't have any real tendency to go for anything in particular, so (as I sometimes do) I've opened it up for other people to decide.

If you don't have an LJ account and so can't vote in the poll itself, feel free to vote in a comment.

And don't worry. I have some stuff to tide me over until I decide that it's over and ignore the voting to choose something I feel like at the time ;)

You mean we don't already have an EP book club thread here somewhere? :-\

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Reply #517 on: June 30, 2008, 10:24:09 AM
So, I'm between books, and I don't have any real tendency to go for anything in particular, so (as I sometimes do) I've opened it up for other people to decide.

If you don't have an LJ account and so can't vote in the poll itself, feel free to vote in a comment.

And don't worry. I have some stuff to tide me over until I decide that it's over and ignore the voting to choose something I feel like at the time ;)

You mean we don't already have an EP book club thread here somewhere? :-\

More or less, you're reading it.



DKT

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Reply #518 on: June 30, 2008, 04:06:11 PM
The first and last scenes in Snowcrash blow me away. Everything in between, however, is a waste of ink.

Snowcrash is one of those books I keep thinking I really should read again, because I felt exactly like Wintermute felt after reading it.  But people keep telling me how great it is. 

I do this a lot with books.


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Reply #519 on: July 01, 2008, 03:36:16 AM
I think what I like best about Neal Stephenson is his writing style.  Just the way he puts ideas on paper.  It's what got me through every one of his books, even Cryptonomicon, which I really enjoyed.

The only Stephenson I have significant complaints about is The Diamond Age, largely because I don't much like the ending and some of the best characters vanish halfway through, never to be heard from again.  But I really enjoyed the book as I was reading it, and I'd happily recommend it based just on the setting/world-building and writing style.

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Reply #520 on: July 01, 2008, 04:09:22 AM
The first and last scenes in Snowcrash blow me away. Everything in between, however, is a waste of ink.

Snowcrash is one of those books I keep thinking I really should read again, because I felt exactly like Wintermute felt after reading it.  But people keep telling me how great it is. 

I do this a lot with books.

Now that I'm halfway through the second reading of "Snowcrash," I'm realizing that I missed a lot the first time I read it.  It's one of those books that bombards you with so much information and detail that I think it really takes a second reading to "get" it.  I've really only had to read two other books twice to "get" them:  "American Gods" by Neil Gaiman and "Declare" by Tim Powers.  I couldn't even make it through the latter one the first time I tried to read it. 



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Reply #521 on: July 01, 2008, 05:00:13 AM
Last week, I read "Little Brother" by Cory Doctorow.  I was blown away.  I read a lot of challenging books.  I majored in English Literature.  I think I have a pretty good sense about what's good and what's bad, regardless of whether or not I liked it.  In my opinion, "Little Brother" falls under the category of "Great Book".  I read it with a lump in my throat and tears in my eyes.  My heart was pounding for hours after I finished it.  It was one of the most powerful books I've ever read.  I put it right up there with "To Kill a Mockingbird" and "The Hiding Place."

My son, a young adolescent who hates reading, loved the book too. 

Currently, I'm re-reading "Snow Crash" by Neal Stephenson.  I read it when it first came out in paperback back in the mid-nineties.  Back then, I found it to be a very difficult read.  I really got bogged down in it.  But, as the years have passed, I keep making connections between our modern world and the world of "Snow Crash."  I'm understanding and appreciating this book much more this time.
To Kill a Mockingbird is my single favorite book of all time, so putting Little Brother up there with that is exceptionally high praise. Doctorow has it for free on his Web site, so i'm gonna check it out.



stePH

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Reply #522 on: July 29, 2008, 04:24:26 AM
Having finished rereading the Ghost in the Shell manga the other day, I began rereading The Incal (the Epic/Marvel graphic novel edition) yesterday.  Today before dinner I finished book 1, and I go now to begin rereading book 2.  Then, I will finally be able to read book 3 for the first time ever, as I have just received it in today's post.

 :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) stePH is teh happy  :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :) :)

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Reply #523 on: July 29, 2008, 04:55:33 PM
"The Time Engine" and "Blood Noir" -- reviews posted elsewhere.

"Greater than the Sum" -- Christopher L. Bennett's new Star Trek tale in the post-Nemesis world.  Pretty good, brings back some characters you might remember, and if you ignore Bennett's pontificating and a little MarySueness in Lt. Chen, it's about as good as Ex Machina.  (His Titan book was still the best of them, IMO.)

Next up: the Olivia Woods ST:DS9 "flip-book", whatever it's called.

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Reply #524 on: July 29, 2008, 05:30:06 PM
Just finished reading Jack McDevitt's Polaris. Years ago, I read his A Talent for War, which is amongst my favourite novels. But nothing else he did ever seemed to satisfy in the same way.

And then I discovered that there were other Alex Benedict novels out, so I started buying them. And, like it's predecessor, it's an excellent science fiction detective novel, which is a genre I'm always a sucker for.

I've got an essay bubbling around in my head on the subject that I'm probably going to set down in words soon enough.

I've started on Neil DeGrasse Tyson's Death by Black Hole, which is a nice little primer n astrophysics and cosmology, but doesn't iclude anything terribly exciting, yet. Certainly, the man's enthusiasm carries the book nicely, and I do understand more than I did when I started, but it's clearly aimed at people who've not read much on the subject before.


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« Last Edit: July 29, 2008, 05:35:46 PM by Russell Nash »

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