Author Topic: What book(s) are you reading?  (Read 661745 times)

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3300 on: July 19, 2020, 05:15:20 AM »
I'm just gonna agree with mandi he got a phd in bullying  :trumps
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Transhuman

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3301 on: July 19, 2020, 05:20:37 AM »
I don't think anyone professing sympathy for the killers could be said to be pushing an easy narrative, especially in 1999. Blaming Doom however...

chronovore

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3302 on: July 19, 2020, 08:11:46 PM »
I can’t believe I read all of that.
 :existential

As for the parents leader recognizing that there were more red flags they should have seen, hindsight is consistently more keen than being in the moment.

chronovore

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3303 on: July 20, 2020, 01:58:52 AM »
Yeah, that's shitty. Sadly, we're not legally able to hold them responsible for the little monster they created and ignored.

Tasty

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3304 on: July 22, 2020, 10:00:51 PM »
I got Lindsay Ellis' new book Axiom's End, mostly because I wanted to see a breakdown and her overview video of the journey to get it published was very informative on a subject I didn't know much about (traditional publishing of genre fiction.) And I figured reading it would be good for any post-publishing discussion she does, since I always love seeing how a story comes together (what makes it into various drafts and why, etc.)

A couple chapters in, and here's the thing...

It's... bad. :doge I honestly like her as a creative, but it's worse than I thought it would be... by a significant margin. I'm hoping the writing becomes less LiveJournal-y as I go on, but I don't know why the first couple chapters would lead the book with... that level of quality.

My friend's self-published novel (mentioned earlier ITT) was honestly an easier read, and I know for a fact it had less people/editors/quality checkers before it got released... Crazy. Also, encouraging.

Maybe the story itself will be the highlight... Here's hoping.

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3305 on: July 22, 2020, 10:06:42 PM »
That's disappointing, i was planning on getting it to support her.

EchoRin

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3306 on: July 28, 2020, 03:13:56 AM »
Michael Balzary (Flea) - Acid for the Children



Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist and founding memeber Flea wrote a memoir that covers his life from birth to the very first RHCP gig.
A very fun and entertaining read as one might predict. Lot more conversational than the biography by bandmate Anthony "Antoine the Swan" Kiedis. Not nearly as fucked up, but still compared to anyone I have ever met... well, fucked up  :lol. I love how everything is just short little tales that sometimes last only a page or 2. It's a really easy read that you can pick up at any time. It's almost like you are just hanging out and asking him to tell you stories from his youth.

Also, the vast vast majority of the material here is completely new. Probably because it omits the actual "I'm now a rockstar" bit which is usually pretty well documented. But these various tender or messed up tales up to like 23 or so are mostly brand new. I love how extremely vulnerable the book is. I like that even as an elder statesmen of rock, Flea is still young at heart and his mind is still firing on all cylinders. He ain't no old crab set in his ways. Has he fucked up along the way? Way too many times. Is he fully aware? Yes and he tries to improve himself sincerely. It comes through in the book.

Also dig that at the end he writes down little lists of concerts that really moved him, records, and books too. He's a very avid reader. And as you learn in the book that was a hobby of his since childhood. He'd probably enjoy this thread.  :)

Bebpo

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3307 on: August 05, 2020, 11:52:03 PM »
About 60% through Mistborn Saga #2 - Wax & Wayne - Book #2 Shadows of Self. It's good but not as fun as the simple first book and not as interesting as the first Misborn trilogy. Still enjoyable and will see where it goes. Should finish it over the weekend. These are short 400 page or less books.

chronovore

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3308 on: August 07, 2020, 10:37:54 PM »
Michael Balzary (Flea) - Acid for the Children

(Image removed from quote.)

Red Hot Chili Peppers bassist and founding memeber Flea wrote a memoir that covers his life from birth to the very first RHCP gig.
A very fun and entertaining read as one might predict. Lot more conversational than the biography by bandmate Anthony "Antoine the Swan" Kiedis. Not nearly as fucked up, but still compared to anyone I have ever met... well, fucked up  :lol. I love how everything is just short little tales that sometimes last only a page or 2. It's a really easy read that you can pick up at any time. It's almost like you are just hanging out and asking him to tell you stories from his youth.

Also, the vast vast majority of the material here is completely new. Probably because it omits the actual "I'm now a rockstar" bit which is usually pretty well documented. But these various tender or messed up tales up to like 23 or so are mostly brand new. I love how extremely vulnerable the book is. I like that even as an elder statesmen of rock, Flea is still young at heart and his mind is still firing on all cylinders. He ain't no old crab set in his ways. Has he fucked up along the way? Way too many times. Is he fully aware? Yes and he tries to improve himself sincerely. It comes through in the book.

Also dig that at the end he writes down little lists of concerts that really moved him, records, and books too. He's a very avid reader. And as you learn in the book that was a hobby of his since childhood. He'd probably enjoy this thread.  :)

I'm a huge RHCP fan, and I'll have to read this. To tell the truth, Kiedis' Scar Tissue bio showed him to be such a narcissistic, mentally abusive, fuckstain that it's caused me to enjoy their music less than before. I've always felt Flea is the stronger character of the two. Chad Smith seems like a good guy, and a tremendous talent, but his superpower seems to be "don't get caught up in Flea and Kiedis' drama."

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3309 on: August 08, 2020, 10:14:53 AM »
I got Lindsay Ellis' new book Axiom's End, mostly because I wanted to see a breakdown and her overview video of the journey to get it published was very informative on a subject I didn't know much about (traditional publishing of genre fiction.) And I figured reading it would be good for any post-publishing discussion she does, since I always love seeing how a story comes together (what makes it into various drafts and why, etc.)

A couple chapters in, and here's the thing...

It's... bad. :doge I honestly like her as a creative, but it's worse than I thought it would be... by a significant margin. I'm hoping the writing becomes less LiveJournal-y as I go on, but I don't know why the first couple chapters would lead the book with... that level of quality.

My friend's self-published novel (mentioned earlier ITT) was honestly an easier read, and I know for a fact it had less people/editors/quality checkers before it got released... Crazy. Also, encouraging.

Maybe the story itself will be the highlight... Here's hoping.
I’m about halfway through and the first few chapters are indicative of Cora’s baseline emotional state, which is what I think she was trying to go for. I’d keep going, it’s been a fun read so far.

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3310 on: August 11, 2020, 04:36:49 AM »
despite being published in only 2010, it already feels oddly dated and quaint against everything going on in the world currently like how we've moved beyond framing things in an immunological sense and are in a post-foucaldian society where we've shifted from disciplinarian to achievement. still, it's interesting enough and a short read, especially the final chapter
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shosta

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3311 on: August 14, 2020, 04:00:14 AM »
Reread American Psycho. I thought it was just boring and gratuitous and transgressive at first but I was satisfied with where it went. Great book.
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chronovore

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3312 on: August 14, 2020, 08:08:20 AM »
Finishing the 2nd Sandman Slim book, kill the dead.

Done with this franchise.

Madrun Badrun

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3313 on: August 14, 2020, 09:46:25 AM »
Oh that's disapointing, heard it was a good series.

Bebpo

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3314 on: August 14, 2020, 10:29:19 AM »
Do you guys bail on books or finish them out of completion?

I finished Mistborn Shadows of Self and it was good and solid and then started Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw's 2nd novel JAM about a flesh eating jam taking over Brisbane and a rag tag group of slackers have to survive it and I'm 100 pages in out of 300 pages and it's really boring. I remember his first book Mogworld about a zombie who gets raised by a necromancer in an MMO and has self-awareness being pretty good and entertaining, but while this one has funny humour moments, generally despite a funny premise it's a bunch of boring characters doing boring things.

Given that's there's only 200 pages left I'm tempted to just power/skim through and finish it, especially because I hear his 3rd book a sci-fi parody "Will Save the Galaxy for Food" is supposed to be his best of his novels,

But part of me feels like it's just a waste of time spending nights reading a book you're bored of when you could be reading something better. Thoughts?
« Last Edit: August 14, 2020, 10:43:10 AM by Bebpo »

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3315 on: August 14, 2020, 10:36:27 AM »
Marie Kondo would tell you to burn it.

Crash Dummy

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3316 on: August 14, 2020, 11:09:41 AM »
Do you guys bail on books or finish them out of completion?

I finished Mistborn Shadows of Self and it was good and solid and then started Ben "Yahtzee" Croshaw's 2nd novel JAM about a flesh eating jam taking over Brisbane and a rag tag group of slackers have to survive it and I'm 100 pages in out of 300 pages and it's really boring. I remember his first book Mogworld about a zombie who gets raised by a necromancer in an MMO and has self-awareness being pretty good and entertaining, but while this one has funny humour moments, generally despite a funny premise it's a bunch of boring characters doing boring things.

Given that's there's only 200 pages left I'm tempted to just power/skim through and finish it, especially because I hear his 3rd book a sci-fi parody "Will Save the Galaxy for Food" is supposed to be his best of his novels,

But part of me feels like it's just a waste of time spending nights reading a book you're bored of when you could be reading something better. Thoughts?
i used to force myself to finish any book i started even if i wasn't having fun with it but as i got older i stopped giving a shit and have no problem dropping something after 50-60 pages if it isn't grabbing me

Great Rumbler

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3317 on: August 14, 2020, 11:40:35 AM »
Also lmao at how this book essentially about how the United States has been built upon slavery, theft, massacres, lying to friends, breaking agreements, oppressing women and minorities at every step of the way for centuries and so on, somehow gets most exceptionally cynical about this country in the the period of the 1970s-1990s where the book basically becomes just a series of "this shit never changes, every fucked up policy of destruction and interference with other nations and fucking over the poor and minorities at home stays in place no matter which party is in charge, no matter what they say on record, fuck this country" :lol

but also :goty


EDIT: Has there been any US intervention post WW2 that benefited the country in question in any way at all

This isn't the bad vibes thread, breh. :juicy
« Last Edit: August 14, 2020, 09:25:02 PM by Great Rumbler »
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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3318 on: August 22, 2020, 09:37:25 AM »
Does anyone here use goodreads? Is it any good for getting recommendations?

EchoRin

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3319 on: August 22, 2020, 10:37:35 AM »

I'm a huge RHCP fan, and I'll have to read this. To tell the truth, Kiedis' Scar Tissue bio showed him to be such a narcissistic, mentally abusive, fuckstain that it's caused me to enjoy their music less than before. I've always felt Flea is the stronger character of the two. Chad Smith seems like a good guy, and a tremendous talent, but his superpower seems to be "don't get caught up in Flea and Kiedis' drama."

Frankly all of them were pretty big assholes in their time. Chad Smith too from some of the things I've seen and read particularly in the earlier days. This seemed to mostly go away by the time we are in the mid 90s from what I can tell. But yeah that sleazeball cock rock stuff from the 70s poured over to the Chili Peppers in their wilder days. It's kind of part of the conflict with this band too. They may have strived for better than how they acted (the subject matter in songs. How they reflect in interviews about various subjects, heck in these books), but they definitely fucked up way too many times. Definitely lots of shitty behavior they more or less got away with that probably wouldn't have been kinda brushed aside a decade latter.

I can't speak for John or Chad as I never read much about their upbringing, but you can see how people like Flea or Anthony turned out to be fuck ups even if they had desire to be better people. A sort of do as I say not as a I do thing. the blokes were lucky to be blessed with so many second chances.
It's sort of like how a dog that was raised badly is now in a loving good environment, but still resorts to some of that bad behavior from their early days because bad habits die hard kind of thing. I get that impression with how the band treated others from time to time up till say the mid 90s now and then.

https://thegrayishcarpet.com/2016/04/20/blood-sugar-sex-dickheads/

https://www.villagevoice.com/2017/12/12/the-flaming-habaneros/

This shit starting at 2:20

yeah... I have lots of love for the Chilis, but they got a checkered past of bullshit.
« Last Edit: August 22, 2020, 10:58:32 AM by EchoRin »

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3320 on: August 22, 2020, 10:47:32 AM »
Does anyone here use goodreads? Is it any good for getting recommendations?

Yes and kinda.  I prefer reddit for fantasy, horror, and history recs.  The scifi subreddits suck though.

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3321 on: August 22, 2020, 05:45:06 PM »


It took me weeks but I'm finally finished :mjcry. I can do about half of the problems in this book now... that number gets smaller in the chapter on factorization in integral domains and my brain nearly melted in the chapter on Galois Theory :heh but I fucking did it, I'm done :stahp

now to get drunk off my ass for a couple of days and then try Munkres :killme

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« Last Edit: August 22, 2020, 05:54:26 PM by shosta »
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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3322 on: August 27, 2020, 10:19:03 AM »
Does anyone here use goodreads? Is it any good for getting recommendations?

Yes and kinda.  I prefer reddit for fantasy, horror, and history recs.  The scifi subreddits suck though.
oh speaking of scifi, is the three-body problem any good? last scifi i read was starship titanic like 10 years and a colleague keeps recommending this to me

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3323 on: August 27, 2020, 10:31:21 AM »


Were on my plate the past few months

Bebpo

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3324 on: September 12, 2020, 03:10:47 PM »
Let's see, since last book, finished

Mistborn Series #2, Book #3 of 4 - The Bands of Mourning by Brandon Sanderson - This was great. It was a grand Indiana Jones-esque adventure with comedy, action, detective work, good characters and a good length. The first book in this new series was a fun short pulp steampunk western w/magic and the second book was not very good and was a short dark Victorian-era political murder mystery, but this third book really rebounded well with a big adventure that pretty much hit all the notes. Liked it a lot and had some interesting updates to the overall lore of the Mistborn books and hints at Sanderson's Cosmere universe. The setup for the final book is solid and makes it seem like it will be very Cosmere lore heavy, so looking forward to that when it comes out hopefully next fall. Feels weird finally being caught up on one of the active Sanderson mini-series within Cosmere. Only 2 books left in my full Cosmere catch-up read. Arcanum Unbound short novella collection and then Stormlight Book #3 Oathbringer. Book #4 Rhythm of War lands mid-November so should be caught up in time no problem.

Tetris by Box Brown. I saw they were making a new movie based on the story of Tetris and I'd owned this book in my backlog but hadn't read it. Turns out it's a graphic novel! Hadn't even flipped it open before and discovered that. Read it in one sitting last night after finishing the above. Was good, especially if you're familiar with the game industry and all the people and companies involved. Even knowing that stuff I still found it pretty hard to follow the legal trail of IP ownership (it's very confusing), but the characters and stories within were really interesting. Will watch the movie.

Does anyone here use goodreads? Is it any good for getting recommendations?

Yeah, I find it pretty helpful for recommendations. If I wasn't lazy I'd make an account myself.

Also check authors you enjoy, often they have their own good read page of books they like and you might find some good stuff from it. Like I read the first Discworld book Colour of Magic and didn't care for it and bailed on the series, and the only other Terry Pratchett book I had read was Good Omens and loved it, and I'd heard one of the top ones was Men at Arms, book #2 in the City Watch series. Kept it in the back of my mind and then I was checking out Brandson Sanderson's goodread recommendations page where he lists only 5-star books that he felt were great and takes inspiration in his writing from and he had Terry Pratchett's Men at Arms on it.

In his review he said something to the effect of I was late to Discworld and started with the first book Colour of Magic which people say isn't the best place to start and it wasn't a very good book and I bailed. I read Good Omens and loved it and wanted to give Discworld another try and then people told me Men at Arms was one of the top-tier Pratchett/Discworld books and I read it and it was totally fantastic.

Since that basically lined up 1:1 with my experience and I like Sanderon's writing style, it made me think I'd probably like Men at Arms a lot if I gave it a shot so I picked it up and am about to start it.

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3325 on: September 14, 2020, 09:04:14 AM »
sandmann companion by hy bender

alan moore's favorite neil gaiman anecdote is just the story of how moore trolled gaiman and the best part is right at the end where he says "I remember looking down , with no sympathy for him whatsoever, and just chuckling and saying "neil scary trouser gaiman, master of modern terror"  :snob

seems appropriate right now  ::)
« Last Edit: September 15, 2020, 08:16:40 PM by filler »
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Madrun Badrun

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3326 on: September 14, 2020, 11:14:15 AM »
I'm 40% through my Dinosaur textbook.  Guys don't know if you know this, but dinosaurs are pretty cool. 

EchoRin

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3327 on: September 17, 2020, 02:13:48 PM »
About a Boy by Nick Hornby

Loved it. Second book of his that I read. The previous one was How to be Good. I think I enjoyed this one more. Especially once all the main characters finally bump into each other. The start when some key players are doing their thing before they all meet had me kinda lukewarm. Of course me being a Nirvana fan helped when it became clear that Kurt was a big part of this book in an indirect way. Funny how that worked out for me.

I suppose I see myself a little bit in both the characters of Will and Marcus. I'm more of a Will now of course without the strange romantic relationship strategies. Once I got to the second half of the book I was pretty much reading it everyday. I like the subject matter in this book and the odd relationships. They shouldn't work on paper. Heck they seem all wrong if you just described it, but the way it all plays out makes sense and you see how these types of individuals would get caught up in this oddball friendship/acquaintanceship.

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3328 on: September 18, 2020, 07:25:20 AM »
Terry Goodkind died.

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3330 on: September 24, 2020, 09:50:46 AM »
Never did read any Terry Goodkind, even though I was all about reading fantasy back when he came on the scene.
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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3331 on: September 25, 2020, 02:34:43 AM »
Terry Goodkind is apparently pretty much a horrible jerk. His politics lean hardcore into very conservative libertarianism, or something like that. A friend of mine did a bunch of research on him and just went off on him a couple years back. I’ll see if I can’t find something on it over the weekend. But anyhow: fuck him.

Bebpo

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3332 on: September 25, 2020, 04:12:04 AM »
Almost finished with Discworld - Men at Arms, it's a good book. Not that hilarious though it has some funny bits, but a good cast of characters, a fun murder mystery story and a well fleshed out setting. While I didn't like Colour of Magic, I'd like to read more good Discworld books like this.

Probably read Mort next, since a book starring Death sounds fun. Up for more city watch adventures too.

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3333 on: September 25, 2020, 08:33:50 AM »
Terry Goodkind is apparently pretty much a horrible jerk. His politics lean hardcore into very conservative libertarianism, or something like that. A friend of mine did a bunch of research on him and just went off on him a couple years back. I’ll see if I can’t find something on it over the weekend. But anyhow: fuck him.

A quick google search said he was a proponent of Ayn Rand's Objectivism. So yeah, probably a huge piece of crap.

EchoRin

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3334 on: September 25, 2020, 05:39:05 PM »
 Not very good or kind, eh? Heh heh heh.  8)

... I'll show myself out the door  :-\

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3335 on: September 25, 2020, 05:48:42 PM »
Terry Goodkind is apparently pretty much a horrible jerk. His politics lean hardcore into very conservative libertarianism, or something like that. A friend of mine did a bunch of research on him and just went off on him a couple years back. I’ll see if I can’t find something on it over the weekend. But anyhow: fuck him.

I think I might have read that article before. :neogaf
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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3336 on: September 27, 2020, 02:44:50 PM »
Finished up Terry Pratchett's Men at Arms. Yep, liked this one. Liked the cast mostly, story was alright and I still find Pratchett's writing a bit hard to follow even at this point in his career 15 books into Discworld. It's mostly easier to follow than book #1, but he loves to flip PoVs all the time between characters without so much as a paragraph break. There's definitely times where I'm not sure who is talking and then have to back up.

Still it's pretty readable and a fun good story. Liked the Trolls & the Dwarves a lot. Will check out some more books at some point. Next few books I'm reading are pretty stacked since I've got my reads planned out through Stormlight Archive #4's release mid-November. After that in December have no reading plans so probably will read Mort then.
« Last Edit: September 27, 2020, 07:20:22 PM by Bebpo »

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3337 on: September 27, 2020, 10:31:49 PM »
Terry Goodkind is apparently pretty much a horrible jerk. His politics lean hardcore into very conservative libertarianism, or something like that. A friend of mine did a bunch of research on him and just went off on him a couple years back. I’ll see if I can’t find something on it over the weekend. But anyhow: fuck him.

I think I might have read that article before. :neogaf

https://www.amazon.com/gp/customer-reviews/R5ARZGHU0G3HR?ref=pf_ov_at_pdctrvw_srp

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3338 on: September 27, 2020, 10:39:44 PM »
Bless you for bringing us this good food, chrono. :lawd
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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3339 on: September 29, 2020, 11:03:21 PM »

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3340 on: October 11, 2020, 09:29:05 AM »


about a third of the way through. enjoying, but wish I could sit in my car near a beach and just binge read.


interesting read so far. the characters seem so real, and it's fiction! 8)
« Last Edit: October 14, 2020, 02:48:34 PM by filler »
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Bebpo

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3341 on: October 15, 2020, 04:25:51 AM »
Finished up Brandon Sanderson's Cosmere Novella collection Arcanum Unbounded

Absolutely fantastic read. So much variety in the novellas and Mistborn Secret History was a daaaaaaaaamn good true ending route finale to the original Mistborn trilogy. Sixth of Dusk and Shadows of Silence were cool horror-ish tales, Emperor's Soul which I'd read before and was re-reading is still great and Edgedancer the Stormlight Novella linking Book #2 and Book #3 was great. Even the White Sands graphic novel was alright.

At this point I've read every Cosmere story outside Stormlight book #3. Gonna start that soon and then jump into book #4 when it releases next month on the 17th.

Pretty much a big fan of Cosmere at this point. It's fantastic and the speed and quality which Sanderson writes to keep it moving is crazy but also great. Feels like a better version of the MCU of books with a couple new entries every year and building up for crazier stuff.

Would highly recommend Cosmere to anyone that likes Sci-fi/fantasy. There's a lot of good starting points, but overall my feeling is Sanderson started off solid but didn't get really great until ~2009 with Warbreaker and almost everything in Cosmere since has been fantastic.

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3342 on: October 15, 2020, 08:32:54 AM »
Bebpo do you collect physical books?  Subterrian press just sent me an email about leather bound copies of The Way of Kings.  Subterrian does a lot of speical editions of fantasy books and I know the Malazan ones are now extreamly valuable.   

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We've locked in copies of the signed leatherbound edition of Brandon Sanderson's The Way of Kings, which will be published in two volumes.

Important: The Way of Kings must be ordered by itself. Do not include any other books or products in the same order.

When packed, this two volume set will weigh in at nine pounds or more. The postage costs, especially for our international customers, will be substantial.

About the Book:

The Dragonsteel edition of The Way of Kings consists of two volumes bound in premium bonded-leather, and the pages are smyth-sewn, not glued like most regular books.

The Way of Kings is printed in two-color offset inks on quality, acid-free paper, includes a bound-in satin-ribbon bookmark, gilded pages, and two-color foiling on the cover. A 24-page four-color offset art gallery starts off the edition and features never-before seen artwork and fanart. 

We’ve made this book a beautiful match for Mistborn: The Final Empire, Well of Ascension, and The Hero of Ages.

First Printing. Brand new leather-bound hardcover, signed by Brandon Sanderson: $200

Bebpo

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3343 on: October 15, 2020, 12:54:28 PM »
Yeah, I followed the kickstarter. Signed up for $1 to add on a physical version of the new novella for $16 afterwards.

I don't mind digital and read some stuff that way, but I actually find physical books easier to read so I still get physical for most stuff. But I'm not a collector in the sense of spending $200 for some fancy version of the book that's otherwise $20 or less.

Madrun Badrun

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3344 on: December 22, 2020, 07:24:02 AM »

Bebpo

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3345 on: December 25, 2020, 09:10:01 PM »
Finished The Stormlight Archives - Book #3 Oathbringer




Damn, 1233 pages and 2 months later, what a ride. This was such a good book oh man. Really good characters, world building, pacing, epic, epic stuff, tons of characters, lots of action & mysteries, lots of fantasy elements. Book #2 was really good, but also had very stop/start pacing which was a bit frustrating. Book #3 is just good solid pacing and then conclusion.

Also I'm impressed how books 2/3 felt very conclusive standalone despite being part of a larger story. I see books #1-2 as being the first arc and book #3 feels like a complete arc in one book.

So far books 1-3 for me have been:

Way of Kings - 3/4
Words of Radiance 3.5/4
Oathbringer 4/4

Definitely gets me hyped up for Book #4 which came out last month. This series feels like the Lord of the Rings/Dune, big top-class epic fantasy series for the current generation. I think Oathbringer was one of the best books I've ever read.

Potato

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3346 on: December 25, 2020, 10:19:59 PM »
Reading this:


In preparation for this:



So I don't get spoiled when I watch season 4.
Spud

Cryo

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3347 on: December 26, 2020, 05:36:47 AM »
Reading this:
(Image removed from quote.)

In preparation for this:
(Image removed from quote.)


So I don't get spoiled when I watch season 4.
I liked the book a lot more than the show depiction to be honest, mostly because you get a lot of cool insight into the biology of the flora & fauna of the planet which didn’t really fit in the show.

MMaRsu

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3348 on: December 26, 2020, 06:20:20 AM »
I got William Gibsons Neuromancer as a christmas gift  :D

Now only to read it
What

Potato

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3349 on: December 26, 2020, 09:05:35 AM »
I'm actually a little concerned going into book 4/S4 of The Expanse because I've absolutely loved the political intrigue aspect and Avasarala is by far my favourite character along with Fred Johnson and the whole OPA thing. I hope it doesn't lose that grounding and turn into some shitty space opera thing. I have faith it won't, but I'm still concerned.
Spud

archnemesis

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3350 on: December 26, 2020, 10:42:18 AM »
I got William Gibsons Neuromancer as a christmas gift  :D
The sequels were on my wishlist. Instead I got a second copy of Neuromancer.

It's a great novel and I'll pass it on to someone who hasn't read it.

HardcoreRetro

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3351 on: December 29, 2020, 04:39:30 AM »
Started on Stand on Zanzibar. I'm loving the worldbuilding.

It's incredibly cynical and the little paragraphs consisting of "future" advertisement, newspaper bits and thinkpieces hit way closer to home than they have any right to.

And that was just reading the first 20 pages.

Dickie Dee

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3352 on: December 29, 2020, 11:36:03 AM »
I've been devouring everything I can find from Adrian Tchaikovsky, Probably my fav SciFi/speculative fiction writer now that Iain Banks has passed and Dan Simmons has rightwing brain worms.

I'd recommend Children of Time to just about anyone (except maybe Arachnophobes). It works as a stand-alone book but it's "sequel," Children if Ruin (which is more of a parallel story) is just as good.

Both books have some of the best depictions of alternate forms of sentience and sapiens I've ever come across.

Don't want to spoil too much as I knew very little going in and I think that heightened my enjoyment of it.
___

Madrun Badrun

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3353 on: December 31, 2020, 10:17:55 PM »
Read the first 2/3rds of His Majesty's Dragon today - enjoying it a lot.  Basically a more (young) adult version of How to Train Your Dragon so far but during the Napoleonic Wars.  It's really formulaic but that's fine. 

Bebpo

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3354 on: January 11, 2021, 03:21:45 AM »
Finished Sanderson's novella Dawnshard that is Stormlight Archives 3.5 like the Edgedancer novella was 2.5 between books 2->3. Was alright. Probably the least interesting story of the Stormlight stuff, but still a good read.

Will start Book #4 Rhythm of War pretty soon.

Potato

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3355 on: January 11, 2021, 04:28:25 AM »
Finished up Cibola Burn. It was ok. Probably my least favourite in the series so far.

Started up on Terry Pratchett's The Last Continent. Been looking forward to this one because it is a satirical look at Australia.
Spud

Bebpo

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3356 on: January 12, 2021, 12:17:36 PM »
I've been trying to read Susanna Clarke's Jonathan Strange & Mr. Norrell. It popped up for January's book for one of the online book clubs I'm in and I've had the book sitting around for a decade and in the meantime they've made a tv show and everything.

Thought it would a nice break book from Sanderon's Cosmere stuff. But then it's eight hundred pages long, and it's dense af. I haven't been enjoying it and it's been taking some time because the pages/paragraphs are really, really dense and it's dry, slow & boring like an old boring period piece. But I figure I'd give it 50 pages and I'm 41 pages in now after the intro stuff finally finished. Pretty sure I'm gonna drop it and move to something else. Might cheat for the book club and watch the tv adaptation if I read that it's good & pretty close.

Found this on google which sounds like the book is pretty slow and doesn't pick up until about 300 pages in -_-
https://www.reddit.com/r/Fantasy/comments/9srque/jonathan_strange_mr_norrell_im_bored_out_of_my/

Also read up on the BBC adaptation which and the reviews say it's very good and accurate and almost flawless adaptation in 7 parts.

I think I'm gonna bail and watch the show.
« Last Edit: January 12, 2021, 12:23:38 PM by Bebpo »

Potato

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3357 on: January 12, 2021, 01:52:29 PM »
I listened to the audio book of Jonathan Strange. It was great, but I can see how reading might be a different prospect. I would say stick with it for a little longer, but if you're not feeling it, watch the show.
Spud

Bebpo

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3358 on: January 12, 2021, 02:18:32 PM »
I love the concept of audiobooks, but the only time I ever got into them was when I had a commute to listen to in the car. Otherwise I don't see when I'd have time to listen. I can't imagine listening in bed at night when I would normally read, just staring at the ceiling.

Probably doesn't help I can't multi-task with audio. So like I can't be working at the computer or playing a game that I'm paying attention to while also paying attention to an audiobook being read. Driving is pretty brainless so it's the one place I can pay attention to audio and multi-task.

Potato

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Re: What book(s) are you reading?
« Reply #3359 on: January 12, 2021, 07:04:59 PM »
I'm the same. Audio books for me were great when I was commuting by bus or car and just wanted to zone out.

I must say though that the Jonathan Strange one is exceptional and worth the effort.
Spud