BOOKS: What are you reading?

[swerve]

Just finished Cryptonomicon.

If you like code and code-breaking, all I can say is "WOW".

Thanks for the suggestion!!!

I'll definitely look into it.

Currently, I'm reading Child of God by Cormac McCarthy. I've had it on my kindle for a couple of years and am not sure why I haven't read it yet. Pretty good so far -- although a different feel then my favorite book of his: The Road...

 

[zoltanspawn]

I'll definitely look into it.

All the Stephenson novels I've read are excellent. His first two are the most accessible, but I don't think you can go wrong.

 

[JackinSea]

I'm partway through listening to the audiobook of Trollope's The Eustace Diamonds, which I had difficulty getting into (and I'm a Trollope fan), but now find okay, if not great. Gonna be a long 13 hours left though!

 

[pat grimshaw]

I'm partway through listening to the audiobook of Trollope's ...

I've never listened to one of those. Does it have just one actor doing all the voices?

 

[JackinSea]

Usually, one person reads an entire book, though not always. Sometimes, two (or more, though that's rare) people will read parts, such as Gone Girl where a woman read the sections from the wife's point of view, and a guy if it was the husband's chapter.

 

[Kulindahr]

I couldn't resist getting the latest in the Manticore sci-fi novels by David Weber, now that it's out for Nook, so I'm plowing through the 848 pages of Shadow of Victory.

- - - Updated - - -

Oh -- at the same time I'm working through a collection of essays about the Middle Ages, which focus on why they weren't really "Dark Ages".

 

[Matt89]

Just finished The Princess Diarist By Carrie Fisher. A funny and interesting book!

 

[Matt89]

Now reading Lasher By Anne Rice

 

[zoltanspawn]

Our hero is a failure at Dominican manhood, but of course that makes him our hero all the more. The Brief, Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz (2007) is a family history in which the popular and the comic transforms into the real and the poignant.

 

[Kulindahr]

Cold Case Christianity

It's by a former atheist who was an expert cold case detective and applied those skills to the New Testament and the claims of Christ. It stands in a long line of books -- just about one (or more) per generation since the sixteenth century -- by former atheists or agnostics who examined the evidence and concluded that under their legal systems Jesus could be "convicted" of rising from the dead.

 

[BiMeGuy]

Ass-holes* - A Theory by. Aaron James
It is funny.

 

[hornyalltime]

Recently finished SUPERNATURAL #10: RITE OF PASSAGE. Loved this novel!!

Starting BOYSTOWN SEASON SIX by JAKE BIONDI tonight!!!

So excited!!

 

[Kulindahr]

The Norman Conquest by Marc Morris

He covers the history of the rulers of England and Normandy the generation before the Conquest first, and it makes the eventual Conquest look like just another bit of arguments between Vikings and their descendants over who was going to rule England. The Normans were "North-men", but the aristocrats they conquered were just as much north-men as they, just a different batch.

 

[Laboyes]

I got quite a few books for the holidays. Hoping to polish some of them off before I get pressed for time again. My family members are dropping as quickly as flies and celebrities nowadays, so I think I can get through at least The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin on the road.

I've never listened to one of those. Does it have just one actor doing all the voices?

Audiobooks can be really nice. Ordinarily one person reads the entire book, but dramatic readings do exist. As a sort of taste test you can check out a vast, free selection of public domain books read by volunteers on Librivox. Quality varies from book to book, from reader to reader. It seems like the more popular books garnish enough interest for dramatic readings.

 

[Matt89]

Recently read Kathy Griffin's Celebrity Run Ins: My A to Z list index, it was quite funny and interesting.

Now reading The Chemist By Stephenie Meyer

 

[Kulindahr]

Waterloo: A Story of Four Days, Three Armies, and Three Battles


It's got lots of primary source material from the journals of officers and non-commissioned officers who were there.

 

[zoltanspawn]

...so I think I can get through at least The Three Body Problem by Liu Cixin on the road.

I just added it to my short list a few weeks back. Tell us what you think when you're done.

 

[Laboyes]

I just added it to my short list a few weeks back. Tell us what you think when you're done.

Brevity is not my forte. Hopefully this stays short.

It was alright. The plot kept me reading in interest most of the time. It sort of reminded me of that Twilight Zone episode featuring "To Serve Man." I did garner (I said "garnish" previously, my apologies) an interest for at least one character. Also, I know very little about Chinese history, so the information concerning the Cultural Revolution was enlightening.

I think each of my major complaints stems from a criticism of the genre in general. My close-mindedness and lack of imagination make me a bit of a sci-fi book hater. Characters are archetypal, lack depth, and can be a bit unbelievable --people don't actually describe themselves as "extremists" or "radicals" in everyday conversation, at least in my experience we seem to eschew such negative ideological labels in lieu of ones such as "locker room" talker and the like--; dialogue felt extremely unbelievable at times; the story tends to be placed on the back burner when explanations about either true or fictitious science crop up; and there are far too many unexplained coincidences. There are more, these are just the most egregious problems that jump out.

While I can't attest to how well the original book was written, Liu Ken's translation seems to have been elegantly conducted. The friend from whom I received this novel said it's a reliable representation of Liu Cixin's original work. Some phrases from even the first few pages will remain with me forever. The tendency to focus on environmental issues was a good motivator to keep reading. I appreciate the primary motivation of the main villainous faction with which the characters had face to face interaction. Despite the fact that its members lacked depth --sort of like any financial backers in James Bond movies--, Liu seemed to have put some thought into at their development at least. The execution of the sabateurs' dastardly scheme would probably work well in my area, where people tend to believe superstition over substantiated fact.

All that said, I'll try to pick up copies of the second and third books to give the series a chance. It will probably be easy enough to snag the book about pesticide use as well, which could be interesting. I hope that this first of Liu's books was a world builder, a piece through which he could acquaint the reader with the story's major characters and the dilemma everyone must face in subsequent books.

 

[zoltanspawn]

It was alright...Some phrases from even the first few pages will remain with me forever.

Sometimes we really are spoiled by the excellence of our comrades, aren't we?

Thanks for your thoughts.

I'll read this sometime soon.

 

[zoltanspawn]

William Dalrymple's stirring history, Return of a King: The Battle for Afghanistan. In the 19th century, the hapless Shah Shuja contends for power, abetted by the blundering British.