Crixus Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 'No God but God' by Reza Aslan: as an atheist I like to read religious POVs at times. A Man Lies Dreaming, Lavie Tidhar: really good. Of late I've been in the mood for some trashy period romance. Any suggestions? :D Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
First of My Name Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Been reading Red Country, which is fun. I've also been dabbling in my intermittent re-reading of AGOT (I only read that one when I'm ill, the idea being that I'll finish my reread of the series when TWOW arrives). Also Siegfried by Harry Mulisch, which I wish would get to being what it is about. And last, I'm going to sell my copy of Star Wars Omnibus: At War with the Empire V1, a SW comic book, so I read parts of that since I won't be able to do so again. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Lyanna Stark Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Of late I've been in the mood for some trashy period romance. Any suggestions? :D The Iron Rose by Marsha Canham. Perhaps not trashy enough, but period and PIRATE ROMANCE! It's also a pirate romance without any "mysterious" crossdressing and without secret babies, thank God. It made me itch to play Sid Meier's "Pirates" too and to sack Tortuga. Yarrrr!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Spockydog Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Half the World dropped onto my Kindle last night. As I'm already neck deep in Laird Barron's Occultation, I thought I'd just have a quick peep at Abercrombie's latest offering. Three hours later, I'm halfway through the bloody thing... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
lojzelote Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Started Bodily Harm by Margaret Atwood. So far I've read only the first chapter; it appears to be a contemplative, descriptive kind of book, but not boring. The story is told by a woman who had gone through mastectomy and a subsequent break up with her boyfriend. As a part of the process of psychical healing she went on an unofficial vacation to an obscure island... and there she's likely to have an adventure, I guess. There's also a murder attemp, by the looks of it. I've got to tell I'm really curious about it. I picked it as a second choice, though. Originally I was searching for The Penelopiad, which had been reccomended to me because I liked A Short History of Myth by Karen Armstrong, that I read last year. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 After avoiding it for a long time I finally read The Casual Vacancy. I'm having the weird reaction where I very much admire the way it's written - in every way better than Harry Potter, technically and structurally- and enjoyed myself a lot but after a day of pondering have decided I pretty much hate what it actually says. It's cynical to the point of nastiness. The people it doesn't hate it pities. And although the children are treated with more authorial sympathy than the adults, I have a massive problem with the way Rowling treated Krystal Weedon. I'm also reading The Islanders by Christopher Priest. Much like my previous experiences with his work, I'm enjoying it but having to deal with my continual impression that Priest thinks he's a much cleverer writer than he actually is. I'll see how this particular puzzle-box comes together at the end, but at this stage I'm mostly still reading Priest because the setting of the Dream Archipelago itself is attractive to me. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
williamjm Posted February 12, 2015 Share Posted February 12, 2015 Darwinia by Robert Charles Wilson - the first 40% had me wanting to have finally read his book Vortex instead, but then an "Interlude" made the book get much better and worse at the same time. The stakes were just drastically changed, but a bit later in another interlude they were upped quite a bit again, and I ended up really enjoying the book. I wasn't a fan of the revelation in the interlude, I thought the initial premise was more interesting and more original than the eventual explanation which is one I've seen in plenty of other stories. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
The Wolves Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I started reading 1984 and so far I like it a lot. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gordonah Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I've just finished Les Miserables by Victor Hugo. One of the best books I've read. I'm about to start War and Peace by Tolstoi.I haven't got round to reading Les Mis yet, but having seen the movie last year and finding it really powerful, it is definitely on my to do list. I just wish I could unsee the film so I could get the full effect of the book.If you like the above, I recommend The Count of Monte Cristo, my stand out favourite of this type. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I have not seen the Les Miserables film but the book contains so much material that at least with side stories there is very probably quite a bit that was left out in the film because otherwise it would become impossibly long. This was (discounting Treasure Island) probably the first serious (not children, genre etc.) world literature book I read when I was 12 and although I probably missed some things because I was too young and it took me a long time to finish I was deeply impressed. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Crixus Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 polishgenius: I had a similar experience re CV. I found it well written and in fact, was impressed with Rowling's grasp of certain themes and the depth of some passages. Yet, it left me feeling low. There was a bleak life-is-misery aspect to it I found jarring, especially after HP (which despite its dark moments was generally uplifting). That said, Rowling can write and she's prolific. Have you read her detective series? Still wish she'd go back to HP. :blushing: Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olenna123 Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 I haven't got round to reading Les Mis yet, but having seen the movie last year and finding it really powerful, it is definitely on my to do list. I just wish I could unsee the film so I could get the full effect of the book.If you like the above, I recommend The Count of Monte Cristo, my stand out favourite of this type. The count of Monte Cristo is definitely on my to read list. I was also looking for a book that would get me started on Nabokov, if someone has a recommendation it would be great. The plot of Lolita is too creepy and I don't think I would enjoy it very much. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
polishgenius Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 That said, Rowling can write and she's prolific. Have you read her detective series? Not yet but I will. The thing is I don't mind depressing books - Bakker, Abercrombie, KJ Parker etc- but something about this just seems a bit mean and snide. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Jo498 Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 "Pnin" is the only other Nabokov I have read; it's quite funny, rather "light" but some of it might appear dated. To some extent it is a similar to Lolita as an ironic comment on 1940/50s US culture, but not as dark. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olenna123 Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 "Pnin" is the only other Nabokov I have read; it's quite funny, rather "light" but some of it might appear dated. To some extent it is a similar to Lolita as an ironic comment on 1940/50s US culture, but not as dark. Thanks, I'll check it out. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
benpeek Posted February 13, 2015 Share Posted February 13, 2015 The count of Monte Cristo is definitely on my to read list. I was also looking for a book that would get me started on Nabokov, if someone has a recommendation it would be great. The plot of Lolita is too creepy and I don't think I would enjoy it very much. Pale Fire is what I consider his best book, but it is also the most demanding, in terms of how it is written. The first quarter of it is a poem, and the rest are the footnotes of the poem, where the plot of the story happens. It's really excellent. I know that description may not sell it, but it's really fantastic. Nabakov's biography, Speak, Memory, is also great in terms of prose. As memories of Russian before the revolution go, it's not without its flaws - in fact, Nabakov is not impartial or sympathetic to it at all - but it's a great book, and a nice place to start. Likewise, he wrote a lot of short fiction youc an try as well. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
olenna123 Posted February 14, 2015 Share Posted February 14, 2015 Pale Fire is what I consider his best book, but it is also the most demanding, in terms of how it is written. The first quarter of it is a poem, and the rest are the footnotes of the poem, where the plot of the story happens. It's really excellent. I know that description may not sell it, but it's really fantastic. Nabakov's biography, Speak, Memory, is also great in terms of prose. As memories of Russian before the revolution go, it's not without its flaws - in fact, Nabakov is not impartial or sympathetic to it at all - but it's a great book, and a nice place to start. Likewise, he wrote a lot of short fiction youc an try as well. Thanks for all the recommendations. I'll add Pale Fire to my list, after the other story. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nictarion Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Just finished the horror novel NOS4A2 by Joe Hill. I absolutely loved it. It's basically about a girl (Vic McQueen) who battles against a man (Charlie Manx) who kidnaps children and transports them to a kind of inscape called Christmasland where he and his Rolls-Royce Wraith feed off their souls/life. By riding a special bicycle (later a motorcycle as an adult) Vic can create a bridge that will help her find things. It's pretty disturbing at times, especially the character Bing (Manx's henchman), and has great suspense and action. Vic is a total badass too. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HexMachina Posted February 15, 2015 Share Posted February 15, 2015 Finally finished A Man Rides Through by Steven Donaldson. Despite my fairly slow pace at reading this, I thoroughly enjoyed the book. It was much better than The Mirror of Her Dreams, as the main characters became more proactive and the plot threads finally began to come together. There were some particularly harrowing moments in the novel, which I wasn't expecting after the much more moderate tone of the first novel, for example: The Ghoul attacks in the Care of Fayle, and the disturbing fate of the Perdon and his men at Esmerel Some of the characters were wonderfully written with satisfying story arcs, and despite the overall 'happy' ending I was rather pleased to find this wasn't a "And they all lived happily ever after" kind of novel - there was sufficient loss and grief at the end without going over the top.I had a few disappointments while reading it, but overall a solid conclusion to the story.Next up is Half a King by Joe Abercrombie, and I will most likely dive straight into Half the World afterwards (Sorry Falcon Throne, pushed aside again...) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
peterbound Posted February 16, 2015 Share Posted February 16, 2015 Millar/Scott's newest Thraxas novel just came out. Everyone should start that series. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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