April 2010 Reads

[williamjm]

Yes, it's a wonderful series. I just finished the last book which I enjoyed as much as the third one. I wish this series was more in the mainstream than some of the others like Narnia or HP, not that I hate or dislike those books, but I feel like The Chronicles of Prydain have more to teach. Lloyd Alexander seemed very faithful to that.

I read Narnia and Prydain about the same age when I was a child, and although I liked them both I did prefer Prydain.

[Bellis]

So... The Immortal Life of Henrietta Lacks should be required reading for all scientists, at least biomedical scientists. And whenever I become graduate program faculty coordinator at a major research university (ha!) it will. It's part detective novel, the author-journalist uncovering the history of a poor Baltimore African-American family, part history of the cells she donated (HeLa cells), and part a discussion of the ethics of the use of medical samples in research and the business end of science. I came away especially sobered and saddened by the huge gaps in scientific literacy between the privileged, yet thoughtless, physician-scientists at Johns Hopkins University, and some of their poorest, often minority, patients.

[Peadar]

Just starting Blood and Oil by Michael Klare.

[Strong_Belwas]

Finished Best served cold last week end. I thought it was great! I'm really anxious to read Abercrombie's next book.

Started the Long Price Quartet by Daniel Abraham. I like it so far even if I needed to get used the writing style a bit at first.

[Isis]

I've made a bit of a dent in The Facts of Life now. Another step on the path to reading the entire works of Graham Joyce. After that I think I'll treat myself to some K J Parker.

I hope my laptop isn't going all weird on me, that's the first time I had it happen. It would drive me crazy, I don't know how it doesn't bother you.

Meh. I just couldn't be arsed to start troubleshooting someone else's PC. And I can't really say that it's anywhere near the top of my list of concerns at the moment. :)

Bellis: I kept looking at the name Henrietta Lacks and wondering why it rang a bell - I thought I'd just seen the book title before... of course, HeLa cells. :) That does sound interesting - I shall investigate.

[BookWyrm]

I remember as I finished the last sentence of Nine Princes in Amber that Roger Zelazny has the most beautiful and powerful way with words. Now as I finish the first chapter in Lord of Light I'm struck by how good he really is. I've got one hell of a book coming up. :bowdown:

[Werthead]

Currently reading Adam Roberts' New Model Army, in which he dissects democracy and authoritarianism through the examination of a future civil war in Britain. Interesting stuff, with Big Themes engaged with intelligently over a backdrop of helicopter gunships blowing up.

Still pondering what to read next. Probably Stephen Deas' King of Crags.

[beniowa]

I made quick work of Kop by Warren Hammond. Juno is a dirty vice cop who is assigned by the police chief, his former partner, to investigate a murder. He also gets stuck with a rookie partner and together they must put together the pieces of a murder puzzle that has implications for the whole colony. I quite liked this book. It reads like a paranormal mystery but set in a gritty scifi setting. The jungle environment of the book's city was very well realized and I often felt sweaty and dirty just by reading it. I also liked that Juno and most of the major characters are all various shades of gray with little black and white. I was expecting an extra plot twist for the conspiracy, but I think the way the book actually ended worked better.

I'm already several chapters into Changes by Jim Butcher. Very good so far.

[Arlingzen Bill]

Finished "Mission of Honor" by David Weber last night.

Started "Watcher of the Dead" by JV Jones this morning.

[Grendalen]

So I started reading The Darkness That Comes Before a couple of days ago. Soon after Akka reached Sumna I realized that

the Pope-like guy is Kellhus. I haven't confirmed yet, but if I'm wrong I'll eat.. haggis or something. Please tell me Bakker doesn't stretch this out. Example: "Wow. They gave away six Trinkets that are like tears of God to them. Why would they do that? Huh. They're allied with the Scarlet Spires. But sorcerers are an abomination to them. That's weird..." No, Kellhus just doesn't care about that crap. I'm not saying that I'm not enjoying it, but there's no mystery in these plot points for me anymore. Ah well. I'll keep going, cursing all the damn navel-gazing as I go along :)

[Bastard of Godsgrace]

So I started reading The Darkness That Comes Before a couple of days ago. Soon after Akka reached Sumna I realized that

the Pope-like guy is Kellhus. I haven't confirmed yet, but if I'm wrong I'll eat.. haggis or something. Please tell me Bakker doesn't stretch this out. Example: "Wow. They gave away six Trinkets that are like tears of God to them. Why would they do that? Huh. They're allied with the Scarlet Spires. But sorcerers are an abomination to them. That's weird..." No, Kellhus just doesn't care about that crap. I'm not saying that I'm not enjoying it, but there's no mystery in these plot points for me anymore. Ah well. I'll keep going, cursing all the damn navel-gazing as I go along :)

No, he isn't. It is more complicated than that.

[Grendalen]

No, he isn't.

Heh. Now I can set that concern aside :cheers:

ETA: Crap. Now I have to try haggis. :twitches:

[Xalinor]

Finished Winter's Heart roughly five or six days ago. Awful. 2/10.

Then I went on to read Crossroads of Twilight, expecting to read the worst novel in the world. It wasn't so bad. Still very dull, but not as bad as Winter's Heart. 4/10.

Now reading Knife of Dreams. I'm pleased to see something actually happening for once (something I've seen little of since The Path of Daggers), and it's manageable.

Next is The Gathering Storm, then the remainder of the Malazan series (available, at least) beginning with where I've left off, Midnight Tides.

[Cuchulain]

Finished Yevgeny Zamyatin's We today. The story is set in a far-future glass city in which the lives of the citizens are rigidly controlled by the state. Aside from being a seminal work of dystopian fiction, it's also a great read. I was amazed to learn that this novel was written around 1920; Zamyatin was really ahead of his time.

Since I intend to write about dystopian fiction for college, I'm going through some of the classics. My next reads will include Orwell's 1984, Bradbury's Fahrenheit 451, and Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.

[Stone-Made-Soft]

I just bought Holy Warriors: A Modern History of the Crusades http://www.amazon.com/Holy-Warriors-Modern-History-Crusades/dp/1400065801/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270675291&sr=8-1 & Christianity: The First Three Thousand Years by Diarmaid MacCulloch http://www.amazon.com/Christianity-First-Three-Thousand-Years/dp/0670021261/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270675669&sr=1-1

I'm also reading random stories from Warriors http://www.amazon.com/Warriors-George-R-R-Martin/dp/0765320487/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1270675726&sr=1-1 I finished Weber's story last night. It was excellent but had a bizarre deus ex machina ending.

Count Dracula shows up with an army of vampires to defeat the alien invaders.

[Quarterman]

Finished Nightmares and Dreamscapes, it probably ranks as my favorite King collection currently. 7/10

I knocked out Stephen King's On Writing in two sittings yesterday. Fantastic and very intimate memoir on writing. 9/10

And finished Robert Marasco's Parlor Games, a slim 213 page is a typical Sunday Night Movie potboiler thriller and melodrama. Nothing real original and exciting to be found here. HUGE SPOILERS!!!

A mental mother just fresh out of the institution still suspects her deceased daughter was killed by her boyfriend and believes there was a political cover-up over the medical autopsy and investigation that ruled her death a suicide. The boyfriend is a president of a large toy manufacturing company inherited from his great-grandfather (and currently dating a co-worker) with a sister who married a congressman. Turns out, the siblings are incestous and the brother is a complete psychopath whose girlfriends have a tendency of small life expectancies. Has the Bluebeard siblings luck finally run out ad nauseum?

5/10

Don't let this book deter anyone from reading this author's book... Burnt Offerings... that is truly a great ghost story and one that influenced King's even greater novel The Shining.

EDIT: Oops, I forgot! I am currently 11 stories into Everything's Eventual collection and so far only fond of one story, The Man In The Black Suit. The title story and L.T. Theory of Pets are simply rank WTF dreck like most of the stories in this collection. Have three more to go.

Also I have Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird sitting on my desk tempting me to pick up.

[Xalinor]

Finished Nightmares and Dreamscapes, it probably ranks as my favorite King collection currently. 7/10

I knocked out Stephen King's On Writing in two sittings yesterday. Fantastic and very intimate memoir on writing. 9/10

And finished Robert Marasco's Parlor Games, a slim 213 page is a typical Sunday Night Movie potboiler thriller and melodrama. Nothing real original and exciting to be found here. HUGE SPOILERS!!!

A mental mother just fresh out of the institution still suspects her deceased daughter was killed by her boyfriend and believes there was a political cover-up over the medical autopsy and investigation that ruled her death a suicide. The boyfriend is a president of a large toy manufacturing company inherited from his great-grandfather (and currently dating a co-worker) with a sister who married a congressman. Turns out, the siblings are incestous and the brother is a complete psychopath whose girlfriends have a tendency of small life expectancies. Has the Bluebeard siblings luck finally run out ad nauseum?

5/10

Don't let this book deter anyone from reading this author's book... Burnt Offerings... that is truly a great ghost story and one that influenced King's even greater novel The Shining.

EDIT: Oops, I forgot! I am currently 11 stories into Everything's Eventual collection and so far only fond of one story, The Man In The Black Suit. The title story and L.T. Theory of Pets are simply rank WTF dreck like most of the stories in this collection. Have three more to go.

Also I have Jerzy Kosinski's The Painted Bird sitting on my desk tempting me to pick up.

Everything's Eventual is awful.

[Quarterman]

Everything's Eventual is awful.

I totally agree, the tales are so... so... meh... whatever. It is bad.

[Xalinor]

I totally agree, the tales are so... so... meh... whatever. It is bad.

I do agree that "The Man in the Black Suit" is the only enjoyable story in the collection. It did win a Bram Stoker Award.

[Quarterman]

I do agree that "The Man in the Black Suit" is the only enjoyable story in the collection. It did win a Bram Stoker Award.

Yeah, very creepy with all it's folklore accoutrements.

I am a couple of pages into 1408, I did like the movie with John Cusack and Samuel L Jackson.