November Reading Thread

[duchess of malfi]

I finished up Donaldson's Fatal Revenant and overall it was quite good. Lots of action, lots of things to think about...he pulled in lots of stuff from both the First and Second Chronicles of Thomas Covenant in this one... A few too many info dumps from unreliable characters, but other than that, very well done.

Am trying to read Gabriel Garcia Marquez's Love in the Time of Cholera but am having a bit of trouble getting into it. The prose is lovely, but the story is moving slowly, and the characters are all a little odd. It might just be that I am not in the mood for this particular sort of book (literary) right now, so I might put it aside and come back to it later. For books of this nature, I always enjoy them a lot more when I have large chunks of time to set aside and digest them as I read; life has been busy lately and a book like this is hard to read in brief spurts.

[TheHalfman]

Started and finished Brian Keene's Dead Rising today, wow fast read. Good zombie novel.

Checked out David Wellington's Zombie Trilogy from the library, am reading Dan Simmon'sChildren of the Night off and on, and have Robert McCammon's new release Queen Of Bedlam coming in the mail tomorrow.

[Calibandar]

Since when did we have 'rules' on what you can stick in the reading threads?

It's called common sense Wert.

[Werthead]

Nope, common sense tells people that a 'reading thread' is for telling people what you are reading, whether in the format of a list or an in-depth essay exploring the book's metaphysical themes.

And this isn't up for debate. If people want to stick a list of what they are reading up, that is fine (as long as it isn't ten pages long and spams the thread, but that is common sense).

[Peadar]

Nope, common sense tells people that a 'reading thread' is for telling people what you are reading, whether in the format of a list or an in-depth essay exploring the book's metaphysical themes.

And this isn't up for debate. If people want to stick a list of what they are reading up, that is fine (as long as it isn't ten pages long and spams the thread, but that is common sense).

I hate it when mammy and daddy fight :cry:

Am about half-way through Robin Hobb's "Renegade's Magic". I'm very surprised to find myself enjoying it. After the last two books I had no intention of reading it at all, but was persuaded otherwise.

[oneeye]

I'm reading time's eye and sunstorm, by arthur c clarke and baxter, pretty good time travel what if's, though not really alternative histories.

[Calibandar]

Wert

I'll decide what is up for debate myself. Reading threads have always been started by people so that they can get an idea of what others thought of the books they read. Common sense dictates that actually talking about what the book is like is what we call a Value Added Activity.

Furthermore if you will check previous reading threads you will see posters requesting multiple times for others to elaborate on what they have read. MaiaB will happily elaborate on the subject

Especially in your position as a moderator I should think that you should encourage people to actually engage in value added activities, such as giving opinions on books. And that is what I am doing here, explaining that a reading thread is more productive when we are actually rendering opinions about the readings.

[A wilding]

At the risk of getting into trouble, I agree with Calibandar here. My understanding is that this thread has always been about opinions. I personally have zero interest in just being given names of books.

Perhaps someone should start a "Reading thread, just book names only please" thread?

[saint777]

Prador Moon: Loved it. Lots of action and wild setpieces. I love the way Asher handles diplomacy between the humans and the crablike Prador.

Human diplomat: "Welcome your Immanance to so and so".

Prador: "Hello food." Picks up diplomat in giant claw and cuts him in half. Humans look on in horror as Prador diplomat eats human diplomat.

Definitely going to read more Asher.

The Succession: Comprised of two volumes The Risen Empire and The Killing of Worlds this is an awesome kick ass space opera with lots of cool ideas and dynamite action. There is an one hundred page multi-staged space battle that kicks off TKOW that trumps anything Star Wars could muster. Lots of hard science but low on technobabble. Good characterization with political intrigue thrown into the mix especially near the end of TKOW. Highly recommended.

[beniowa]

I do prefer that people give an opinion on what they've read. They can at least say whether or not they liked it without having to give an in-depth review, but you can't force people to do so and I think a separate thread would be superfluous.

[Larry.]

I wonder if I ought to be a smartass and list the books in English, but then describe them only in Spanish, just to be irritating like that

Read two books so far. Umberto Eco's just-released companion piece to 2004's On Beauty, called On Ugliness. Mixed feelings about the themes within this. Might review it at length later, but it is certainly worth the $29 that I paid for it (I love Amazon discounts and no sales tax or extra shipping costs for Prime members )

Finished Edward P. Jones's Pulitzer Prize-winning The Known World. It's powerful, but I read most of it today during a bad mood/time, so it'll be a while before I can process it adequately, but it certainly is a multi-faceted and thoughtful story of the effects of African slavery in 1840s-50s America.

Reading Catherynne M. Valente's The Orphan's Tale: In the Cities of Coin and Spice now and loving it as much as the first volume. More later.

Shall continue reading Jack Vance's Lyonesse trilogy soon as well.

Sure to read dozens more before the month is over.

[Werthead]

I'll decide what is up for debate myself.

About board rules? No, you will not. You told a new board member that giving a list of book titles was unacceptable and he needed to elaborate on it. You want to ask someone to do that, fine, but suggesting that it's board policy when it is not is misleading.

And that is what I am doing here, explaining that a reading thread is more productive when we are actually rendering opinions about the readings.

Nope, you are telling someone what you would like the reading threads to be, not what they are at present.

I do prefer that people give an opinion on what they've read. They can at least say whether or not they liked it without having to give an in-depth review, but you can't force people to do so and I think a separate thread would be superfluous.

This is my position also. If everyone wants to post lists of what they're reading it would be rather tedious, but it is within the remit of the subject of the thread.

[Larry.]

Wert,

If we were to cast the lists in the form of a haiku, would that be acceptable for "review" purposes?

[Werthead]

Absolutely

[Larry.]

Hrmm...

For your next great read

Catherynne M. Valente

Shall fulfill that goal.

Not all that great of a haiku, but...

For a quick delight

Read Eco's On Ugliness.

It shall fright you right.

Err...

Pulitzer Prize book

The Known World is very good

But it also is sad.

Maybe more length to these?

[Analu]

I don't see what's so wrong about just listing the books you're reading, either. The name of the thread says it all. Whether or not boarders want to go into detail is up to them and is hardly a violation of any sort. If you don't have any interest in reading a post that's just a list, bully for you. Just don't read it then.

The only people who should be doing any scolding when it comes to telling another boarder how or what they should or shouldn't post is a mod.

Anywho, I'm planning to start a reread of ASOIAF from the beginning when I get a chance. Am still reading Before They Are Hanged, and still liking it. Not sure how much I'm buying this Jekyll and Hyde act by Ninefingers, though. Something about it just seems a little off to me.

*spoiler alert*

Case in point: if he has to work himself into a rage everytime before transforming and is such a killing machine, how did he manage to defeat Three Trees, Dow, Tul, Grim, Dogman without killing them? And why would he be so enraged at them in the first place? And can he *be* anymore of a Clark Kent caricature when he's just himself?

[Cel]

I just started Summer Knight, by Jim Butcher. This is the fourth book in the Dresden Files series. I loved the first two books. The third was good, but felt it was more of a set up for story lines so Butcher could continue the series. As I am enjoying the series I didn't mind.

I finished The Royal Assassin, by Robin Hobb earlier this week. I read this book one other time about 4 years ago. I was surprised at how many details I had forgotten. I get a bit stressed reading this series as Fitz, the main character, has a challenging life. I was glad to read in here that someone enjoyed Robin's Renegade's Magic. I did not like the first two books in this series and wasn't sure if I would pick this up. I think I may at least give it a try.

Next on my list is The Assassin's Quest (Hobb), The Death Masks (Butcher) and The High King's Tomb by Kristen Britain. I've been waiting for the last book for a few years. It's release date is Nov 6th. I'll probably pick this up before the other two.

[williamjm]

If we were to cast the lists in the form of a haiku, would that be acceptable for "review" purposes?

Night of Knives novel,

Quite a lot like Erikson,

Not nearly as long

[Caligula_K]

Summary of October Reading:

On the fantasy side, there was The Children of Hurin and Mieville's Iron Council. Both were fantastic- though Hurin dioesn't offer much that was new, it still remained an extremely compelling story (it is one of my favourites from the Silmarillion), the anglo-saxon feel is excellent, and the pictures are very pretty- making it the definitive edition of the Turin story. Iron Council is definitely underrated- its better than Perdido Street Station, though not the Scar, despite having the a stronger plot. The 150 page section in the middle, involving Judah Lowe and the Iron Council's history, is probably the strongest piece of writing Mieville's done- that said, it does start slowly and lose some momentum during the Iron Council's journey back (they almost die but don't, they almost die but don't, then they almost die.. but don't) but comes back for a great climax. And criticisms of Mieville as social propoganda seem more off than ever; if anything, Iron Council is just as critical of social revolutions and honest about their failures as it is about the evils of capitalism and government (if not more so, since the revolution is shown in some detail, whereas the New Crobuzon government is essentially a caricature).

Lots more history. Caesar's Bellum Civile began the month; a nice romp through some fun military history, though my favourite parts are Caesar's various attempts to justify his war and utilize his work as propoganda. I did a read of books 50-56 of Cassius Dio's History of Rome, titled by Penguin as The Reign of Augustus. Following that was a re-read of Polybius, and then a book on the Tudors called New Worlds, Lost Worlds. Finally, I read Paul Murray Kendall's The Yorkist Age, a study of social history during the Wars of the Roses.

Now, I am reading Dreamsongs: Volume I

[Thrashalla]

Just finished the last of Hobb's Liveship Traders...really excellent, and I'm not generally a fan of the pirate/nautical theme. Right now I'm about 50 pages into Ruckley's Winterbirth, and then back to Hobb with the Tawny Man tril (already have the first 2 on my shelf waiting) No clue after that...probably going to be Abercrombie or Bakker.