April 2010 Reads

[Renasko]

:shocked:

Care to expound on that? You're the first person that I've seen say that. I've seen posters that liked others of his books better, but I've never seen 'not good'.

Partly due to reading it almost immediately after finishing 'Memoirs of a Master Forger', which was an excellent book. I absolutely loved that one. With 'Fairy', I felt it just didn't become interesting or really get going. The journey/plot was meandering, and in the end went no where. Oh, they grew up, did drugs and left each other? Didn't see that coming. :rolleyes: Wow...I'm glad that book wasn't longer. The prose was so amateur-esque, I thought it was aimed at the YA market. However, the odd disturbing 'kids get their dicks out' moments assured me that it was at least not intended to be.

The best part of the book had to be the hugely metaphorical scene near the end...

When the Tooth Fairy and Sam shed their skin and made love. He finally gave himself fully to her/it.

But, unfortunately that wasn't enough to redeem it and pull me around. Big disappointment.

[Nearly Headless Ned]

Finished Brothers Grossbart by Jesse Bullington. An auspicious if occasionaly disgusting debut.

Halfway through The Princess Bride by William Goldman. Very sweet,funny and clever book. Possibly too clever as Goldman's interjections whilst amusing do tend to disrupt the flow of the story.

Also started The Great and Secret Show by Clive Barker. Now this guy is a real master and effortlessly sweeps you into his world. Only 60 pages in however.

[Guinevere Seaworth]

Will be finished Why Your World is About to Get a Whole Lot Smaller by Jeff Rubin later today. Fascinating stuff. Some of the economic theories behind recessions and deficit was a bit dry, but informative.

Up next is Lavinia by Ursula Le Guin.

[Cuchulain]

Finished Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, one of the best (and darkest) dystopian novels I've read. I also finished Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, which was different but equally great. Next up is Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.

[beniowa]

I finished Wicked Gentlemen by Ginn Hale. It's actually two short stories featuring the same two protagonists, and set in an alternate 19th Century London where those with the blood of demons live openly as an underclass. I felt that the author focused a little too much on the romantic relationship of the characters than on the plot, but I did like the world the author created plus the political backdrop for the stories. I actually thought the stories could have been fleshed out a bit more and made into full novels. There was certainly enough to support it.

I took a break from Warriors to read Diamond Dogs, Turquoise Days by Alastair Reynolds. Darn good space opera as expected. I plan to get to the final book in the Revelation Space trilogy later this year.

Now back to Warriors and for my next novel I picked up The Desert Spear by Peter V. Brett.

[Vrana]

Finished Orwell's Nineteen Eighty-Four, one of the best (and darkest) dystopian novels I've read. I also finished Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, which was different but equally great. Next up is Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.

The perfect end to those would be alduous huxley's Brave New World. Since you seem to be on a dystopian streak. :)

[Myshkin]

The perfect end to those would be alduous huxley's Brave New World. Since you seem to be on a dystopian streak. :)

Or Vonnegut's Player Piano.

[Cuchulain]

The perfect end to those would be alduous huxley's Brave New World. Since you seem to be on a dystopian streak. :)

Already finished that one a few months ago ;)

Or Vonnegut's Player Piano.

Got that one sitting on my shelf. Is it good ? I get the impression it's considered one of Vonnegut's lesser works (despite being his debut novel).

[Scion of Valyria]

Just finished Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. I'm confused by the packaging of it. The bold pink letters and blue-tint of the cover seems more in line with a young adults novel geared towards little girls. Not so. I thought it was great.

I picked up three, today. Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness and The Lost City of Z to fulfill my need for Victorian-exploration-adventure tales. I'll probably start Lost City of Z first.

To lighten things up a bit, I also got Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. I am intrigued.

[Vrana]

Already finished that one a few months ago ;)

Got that one sitting on my shelf. Is it good ? I get the impression it's considered one of Vonnegut's lesser works (despite being his debut novel).

Ah, well, I was going to second Myshkin in any case. And it's Vonnegut fer chrissakes! I'd read his product description for toiletpaper.

[Ahimsa]

I've had a lot of time to read this month. What I can read is limited somewhat by what I can find in Nepal's second-hand bookstores, but they have more variety than I would have expected. But I think I'm running out: this is April so far.

Lord of the Rings (reread)

Dance Dance Dance Murakami

Hard Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World Murakami

Subtle Knife Pullman

Amber Spyglass Pullman

Antic Hay Huxley

Confederacy of Dunces Toole

The Girl Who Kicked the Hornet's Nest Larson

Perfume Suskind

Ulysses Joyce

The Last Coin Blaylock

Fathers and Sons Turgenov

[Peadar]

Just starting Implied Spaces by Walter Jon Williams.

[moirne]

I finished Heresy by S.J. Parris. Fantastic historical thriller set in Oxford during the Elizabethan era. I highly recommend it for people who like the genre.

[Nearly Headless Ned]

Finished The Princess Bride by William Goldman. A wry little book about storytelling that still manages to tell a great tale.

[Myshkin]

Got that one sitting on my shelf. Is it good ? I get the impression it's considered one of Vonnegut's lesser works (despite being his debut novel).

It's different than most Vonnegut works, that's probably why it gets labeled as "lesser". It's more straight up dystopian SF, and less humorous weird shit. But it's very good, IMO.

[Cuchulain]

It's different than most Vonnegut works, that's probably why it gets labeled as "lesser". It's more straight up dystopian SF, and less humorous weird shit. But it's very good, IMO.

Cool. I guess Player Piano is next on my reading list then.

Finished Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale. I respect it as a well-written, significant dystopian novel, but I didn't connect with it. I can't really find fault with the novel, it's just a matter of taste. I do admit I'm a little bit biased when it comes to feminist literature.

[Xalinor]

Stalled on all three books I was reading. I've abandoned The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, for the moment. I've proceeded to read The Gathering Storm and The Red Badge of Courage at a slower pace.

Starting Erikson's Midnight Tides for some fresh material.

[The Evil Hat]

I finished The Reality Dysfunction last night. Wow, what an intense read. I was somewhat hesitant for the first three hundred or so pages, but everything exploded shortly afterwards and I read it in just five days (which felt pretty damn good, for its length). I still haven't totally sorted out my impressions, but I'm definitely going to continue.

Did anyone else feel that:

The absolute best part of the book was when no one quite knew what was going on, such as the Kulu/Marine attempt to get a prisoner? Knowing nothing about the enemies, save that they were ridiculously powerful, made that part one of the most intense reading experiences I can remember. Once you learn what they were it was still good (save the ending medieval army; that was just too cheesy for me to really buy), but it was never quite as terrifying.

[RedEyedGhost]

Partly due to reading it almost immediately after finishing 'Memoirs of a Master Forger', which was an excellent book. I absolutely loved that one. With 'Fairy', I felt it just didn't become interesting or really get going. The journey/plot was meandering, and in the end went no where. Oh, they grew up, did drugs and left each other? Didn't see that coming. :rolleyes: Wow...I'm glad that book wasn't longer. The prose was so amateur-esque, I thought it was aimed at the YA market. However, the odd disturbing 'kids get their dicks out' moments assured me that it was at least not intended to be.

The best part of the book had to be the hugely metaphorical scene near the end...

When the Tooth Fairy and Sam shed their skin and made love. He finally gave himself fully to her/it.

But, unfortunately that wasn't enough to redeem it and pull me around. Big disappointment.

It's been quite awhile (4 years or so - I do need to reread it) since I read it last, and I don't remember the writing being amateurish - but I am glad that you were able to see the growth from this to his latest novel. It is a coming of age story so I don't know why you wouldn't expect the bolded stuff. In a coming of age story I expect for it to meander - just like life.

Have you read any other Joyce books?

[Renasko]

I actually wasn't aware of the story too much heading into it. I prefer it that way. That it turned out to be simply that, made me a little disappointed. I've only read the two by the author.

I'll be seeking out more of his books in the future.