Author Topic: What are you reading?  (Read 845504 times)

Talia

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Reply #725 on: December 12, 2008, 07:14:31 PM
I just finished 'Jimmy the Hand' by Raymond Feist (yes, I read popular fantasy. I'm not ashamed!). It had a few irritating quirks but overall was pretty enjoyable. Brain candy, basically. I'd forgotten how compulsively readable his stuff is.

I recently finished Jack McDevitt's 'The Devil's Eye.'  I don't read a lot of sci fi (I'm a fantasy nerd), but I just love his stuff. I think maybe because he doesnt overdo the technology aspect (which always makes my eyes glaze over). Anyway, the book was, as usual, excellent.  I had the privilege to see him on a panel at I-Con a few years back, he was very funny, engaging and smart. Definitely one of my favorite authors.



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Reply #726 on: December 12, 2008, 10:56:24 PM
it has come to my attention that this thread is reeeeeally long.
continue.

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


Boggled Coriander

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Reply #727 on: December 13, 2008, 01:30:41 AM
it has come to my attention that this thread is reeeeeally long.
continue.

Okie-doke.  Been reading some non-SF Indian lit, in anticipation of a trip around southern India next month.  Akhil Sharma's An Obedient Father is the first full-length novel I've read with a truly repulsive, unlikable, evil protagonist.  I didn't know it was possible to have a readable novel about a character the reader is supposed to deeply loathe.  Sharma manages it by making you feel pity for him, the way you might feel pity for a rabid animal in pain who just mauled your dog to death and is now getting ready to attack a human.  Neat trick.

Also, Ruth Prawer Jhabvala's Heat and Dust, which won the Booker and got made into a movie and everything.  Jhabvala married into Indian culture, rather than being a native of it, so she can look at India from a newbie Westerner's perspective.

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Reply #728 on: December 13, 2008, 04:05:28 PM
With trepidation, I started reading "Quicksilver" by Neal Stephenson for a science fiction reading group.  I picked up the mass-market paperback and was a bit ticked to find out that it was only 1/3 of the original hardback/trade paperback.  I was enjoying it, so I went ahead and got the trade paperback.  It's only the third Stephenson book I've read.  I thought "Zodiac" was okay, but not great.  "Snow Crash" stuck with me for 15 years and I had to re-read it recently.  It was a difficult read.  So far, "Quicksilver" is a fun read that flows very smoothly.  Stephenson really makes 17th century England come alive.  There doesn't really seem to be a plot, but that's okay.  The book appeals to the English lit major in me and it makes me laugh out loud.



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Reply #729 on: December 14, 2008, 05:40:58 AM
As of approximately sixty seconds ago, I finished Dayworld, replaced it on my bookshelf, and took its neighboring volume Dayworld Rebel down for reading to begin tomorrow.

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-- some guy interviewed in Nerdcore Rising


Listener

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Reply #730 on: December 15, 2008, 03:05:55 PM
Finished a great, if overlong, HP fanfic called "Worth the Risk" recently.

In real life, I'm reading "Holmes on the Range" by Steve Hockensmith -- two ranchers in Montana, one of whom is a major Holmes fan, try to solve a murder. It's okay.

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MacArthurBug

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Reply #731 on: January 02, 2009, 10:39:30 PM
Just started Just another Judgement Day- the new Nightside novel by Simon Green. This series is such fun I highly reccomend it for odd minded folk.

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Zathras

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Reply #732 on: January 02, 2009, 10:51:02 PM
My bathroom reader is Why We Suck by Dennis Leary.

Studying How to Win at Omaha High-Low by Mike Cappelletti and some of my other poker books.

I also read Listener's The Next Time Around, it's the only fiction I've read in some time.



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Reply #733 on: January 03, 2009, 12:30:35 AM
"Anathem" by Neal Stephenson

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izzardfan

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Reply #734 on: January 03, 2009, 01:34:18 AM
"Anathem" by Neal Stephenson

Oooh, I want to know what you think when you're done.  I've considered picking this one up.



Sandikal

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Reply #735 on: January 03, 2009, 01:42:44 AM
I just finished reading "Mistborn" by Brandon Sanderson.  I always approach fantasy with caution because so much of it is so derivative and I'm really leary of multi-volume epic quests complete with dungeons and dragons.  "Mistborn" was so refreshing.  Yes, it is the first volume of a series, but the story in "Mistborn" has a well-defined beginning, middle, and end.  No cliffhanger!!!!  I loved that the magic didn't go overboard and the Sanderson didn't spend a lot of time explaining everything about the world.  The extremely detailed information about the world's magic system fit because it was about a young girl learning how to use it.  Her teacher has to explain it to her and she figures some of it out on her own.  I am really looking forward to the next volume and I hope that it's a complete story too.

I kind of set "Quicksilver" aside when I picked up "Mistborn".  I'll be picking that one back up next week.



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Reply #736 on: January 03, 2009, 03:16:07 AM
I'm about to reread Cyteen by C.J. Cherryh, in preparation for the long-awaited sequel Regenesis that is scheduled for release this month.

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Reply #737 on: January 03, 2009, 04:06:44 AM

I just finished reading "Mistborn" by Brandon Sanderson. 


FYI, Brandon is one of a trio of writers responsible for the podcast Writing Excuses.  (Motto: "Fifteen minutes long, because you're in a hurry, and we're not that smart.") It's fun if you have interest in the craft of writing genre fiction. 

"My whole job is in the space between 'should be' and 'is.' It's a big space."


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Reply #738 on: January 03, 2009, 04:25:25 AM
I just finished Playing for Keeps by Mur Lafferty.  I admit that I bought it mainly because when Mur starts talking, I am so mesmerized by her voice I would probably do almost anything she asks, and when she was gearing up for the book's Amazon launch date, she was asking in lots of places in the podsphere. Despite the fact I'm generally not a huge fan of super-hero fiction, I bought on The Day as requested.  (Yes, I have to hope that Mur and I never meet in person, and that she's made some sort of ethical commitment to Use Her Powers Only For Good. :D)

I can't say too much without entering spoiler territory, but I was pleasantly surprised by the complexity of the situation and the characters. I had expected something much simpler than it turned out to be. While I can't say the setting seems very real to me -- in a relatively short book, something had to get shortchanged, and it was clearly "place" -- it worked well enough to contain the action.  While I'm not nearly as effusive as some of the Amazon reviews, and I certainly wouldn't say it was profound or anything, it was a solid and entertaining piece of work, the plot kept me guessing and the characters got me involved. 

Still working on Karen Armstrong's A History of God and for light snacks in-between: Steampunk

Mods please EP-ize those links...

Mod: It is done.
« Last Edit: January 03, 2009, 05:34:53 AM by Heradel »

"My whole job is in the space between 'should be' and 'is.' It's a big space."


Heradel

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Reply #739 on: January 03, 2009, 05:47:20 AM
Slightly off-topic for this topic, but since a lot of the books in here end up getting linked to Amazon I figured it's as good a place as any to reveal the alchemy behind the EP-izing of links. Not to say I'm not happy to do it myself when asked, or if I notice a naked amazon link (...Which, upon my please-no-glaring-typos check reads really dirty), but it's pretty easy to do and it's really easy to figure out if you look at the links themselves, so there's no point keeping it under wraps.

There's really not much. Basically, take the ASIN, plug it into a generator like this one, and input escapepod-20 as the associate ID.

So, for example, I'm going to be getting a camera bag soon as a late Christmas present to myself to house my small collection of zooms, primes and my flash. I've decided on the Crumpler 6 Million Dollar Home, which comes up in my address bar like this: http://www.amazon.com/Crumpler-MILLION-DOLLAR-Shoulder-Oatmeal/dp/B000W8U4GK/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=electronics&qid=1230960985&sr=8-1

So now I take the string of letters and numbers after /dp/ (B000W8U4GK) and insert them into the generator, which spits out http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/B000W8U4GK/escapepod-20 . Now, if I'm changing a couple links at once I just keep using that link and swap out the ASIN for whichever one I need.

———

And as a related bit of notice, someday fairly soon I'm going to start going back through the last couple pages to insert EP-ized Amazon links to things mentioned. If anyone has any objections, well, speak now or forever hold your peace.

I Twitter. I also occasionally blog on the Escape Pod blog, which if you're here you shouldn't have much trouble finding.


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Reply #740 on: January 03, 2009, 10:50:36 AM
<snip> ... the alchemy behind the EP-izing of links.

By "EP-izing" do you mean listing a link that shows regular text instead of the URL?

If so, I have an (I think) easier way to do it:

Copy the URL from the address bar of the page you wish to link to.
Type your text in the posting window, and highlight/select the text you wish to be clickable.
Click the "Insert Hyperlink" icon above ()
Your text now has [ url] and [ /url] around it (though without the spaces next to the brackets; I put those in to make the code show)
Put your cursor before the ] in [ url]  ([url<-here])
Type "=" (without the quotes) and paste the URL.
You're done!
« Last Edit: January 03, 2009, 11:22:51 AM by izzardfan »



Listener

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Reply #741 on: January 03, 2009, 12:33:49 PM
"Anathem" by Neal Stephenson

Oooh, I want to know what you think when you're done.  I've considered picking this one up.

It's probably the most complicated thing he's written because of the language. If you can get past that, it's very interesting.

Language example: instead of saying "have sex with" you would have a "Tivian interaction".

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stePH

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Reply #742 on: January 03, 2009, 03:55:29 PM
<snip> ... the alchemy behind the EP-izing of links.

By "EP-izing" do you mean listing a link that shows regular text instead of the URL?

Not quite.  It's that, plus having the link to Amazon set up so that a purchase made through that link will cause a little money to kick back to Escape Artists, Inc.

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-- some guy interviewed in Nerdcore Rising


Bdoomed

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Reply #743 on: January 03, 2009, 04:42:17 PM
psh... generator...
all you have to do, is insert "/escapepod-20" after any amazon link.
so any book you want to put up, just paste the link and type /escapepod-20 at the end of the URL, then test it to make sure it still goes to the correct amazon page, and its "EPized"


on another note... this is my 999th post :)

I'd like to hear my options, so I could weigh them, what do you say?
Five pounds?  Six pounds? Seven pounds?


jrderego

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Reply #744 on: January 03, 2009, 05:11:03 PM

"Happiness consists of getting enough sleep." Robert A. Heinlein
Also, please buy my book - Escape Clause: A Union Dues Novel
http://www.encpress.com/EC.html


Heradel

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Reply #745 on: January 03, 2009, 05:32:07 PM
<snip> ... the alchemy behind the EP-izing of links.

By "EP-izing" do you mean listing a link that shows regular text instead of the URL?

If so, I have an (I think) easier way to do it:

Copy the URL from the address bar of the page you wish to link to.
Type your text in the posting window, and highlight/select the text you wish to be clickable.
Click the "Insert Hyperlink" icon above ()
Your text now has [ url] and [ /url] around it (though without the spaces next to the brackets; I put those in to make the code show)
Put your cursor before the ] in [ url]  ([url<-here])
Type "=" (without the quotes) and paste the URL.
You're done!

Er, no actually. I had the full URL's out for readability, EP-izing, as others have noted, it adding the amazon associate ID to Amazon links so that there's a kickback to EA if someone clicks on the link and buys the book.

What I'm going to do is hyperlink the titles of the books that have been posted in the clear to EP-ized amazon links, not have the amazon link in full below.

I Twitter. I also occasionally blog on the Escape Pod blog, which if you're here you shouldn't have much trouble finding.


izzardfan

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Reply #746 on: January 04, 2009, 06:39:44 PM
Thanks, I'll do that with any book link I post!  It's my nature to be (overly at times) helpful, so please ignore anything that you would say "well, duh!" to, and forgive me.  Although I've been listening to Escape Pod for nearly a year, I'm fairly new to the forum.



gelee

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Reply #747 on: January 05, 2009, 01:55:56 PM
Finally finished Neal Stephenson's "Anathem."  This was my first Stephenson, so I wasn't really sure what to expect.  I was a little disappointed that about half the book consists of the characters standing around and having philosophical and scientific debates.  There just wasn't a whole hell of a lot of story going on.  I enjoyed the ending, but I don't think I'll be reading anything else by Mr. Stephenson.
Still working on Jospeh Campbells "Masks of God."  Good stuff.  Human history is chock full of things that you might only expect to find in a fantasy novel.
Also taking another crack at T.A. Olmstead's "History of the Persian Empire."  Tough going, but I think it will be worth it.  It's just amazing how long complex civilizations have been active in that part of the world. 



stePH

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Reply #748 on: January 05, 2009, 02:21:52 PM
Finally finished Neal Stephenson's "Anathem."  This was my first Stephenson, so I wasn't really sure what to expect.  I was a little disappointed that about half the book consists of the characters standing around and having philosophical and scientific debates.  There just wasn't a whole hell of a lot of story going on.  I enjoyed the ending, ...
Then maybe this wasn't typical of Stephenson's work.  ;)  (I haven't read it; have read his first five, from The Big U through Cryptonomicon)

Actually from what you say before "I enjoyed the ending" this does sound typical of Stephenson.  It's just that his endings tend to disappoint -- the story gets finished, sure, but the sense of finality or closure is missing.

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Listener

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Reply #749 on: January 05, 2009, 03:38:41 PM
Finally finished Neal Stephenson's "Anathem."  This was my first Stephenson, so I wasn't really sure what to expect.  I was a little disappointed that about half the book consists of the characters standing around and having philosophical and scientific debates.  There just wasn't a whole hell of a lot of story going on.  I enjoyed the ending, ...
Then maybe this wasn't typical of Stephenson's work.  ;)  (I haven't read it; have read his first five, from The Big U through Cryptonomicon)

Actually from what you say before "I enjoyed the ending" this does sound typical of Stephenson.  It's just that his endings tend to disappoint -- the story gets finished, sure, but the sense of finality or closure is missing.

"The Big U" is my favorite Stephenson novel, followed by Snow Crash, then Cryptonomicon, then Diamond Age.

I like the scientific discussions... the pink dragons who fart nerve gas were LOLworthy.

"Farts are a hug you can smell." -Wil Wheaton

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