Had to speed read/listen to it in two days for class. Really enjoyed it. Very heartbreaking but beautiful. 7/10
Better than I thought it would be. It was given to me like ten years ago but I never got to it until now. 7/10. Now I'm going to give LOTR a shot since that was given to me as well.
Gogan's Trade, by George V. Higgins: Cogan's Trade is the book that the movie Killing Them Softly was based on. The novel comes without the insistent political commentary that marred the movie in some people's opinion, but the dialogue is very similar, sometimes word for word what was used in the movie. The book is virtually all dialogue actually. There is very little description and no psychological explanation given--we know the characters on the basis strictly of what they say and do. Maybe Higgins is a frustrated playwright, I don't know. It's a good read if you haven't seen the movie. But if you have seen the movie, it won't add anything important that you don't already know.
Currently reading No Easy Day. Enjoy it quite a bit so far.
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"Of course giving Sather cap space is like giving teenagers whiskey and car keys." - SBOB "Watching Sather build a team is like watching a blind man with no fingers trying to put together an elaborate puzzle." - Shadowtron
Sestito still on the make a wish tour. - rholt168
Having just re-read (and listened to a couple of audiobook versions) of Beowulf - I decided to read/listen to a couple of literary adaptations.
A first-person retelling of the Beowulf story (or at least the first part of it) told from the point of view of Grendel - an almost genteel existentialist monster observing the human condition.
If you've read (and/or are familiar with Beowulf): 8/10
If not: 6/10
The unabridged audiobook version (narrated by George Guidall) is quite good - first person narratives adapt particularly well to the audiobook format.
Michael Crichton's purported presentation of the 10th century first person account of Ahmad ibn Fadlan, an ambassador from the Caliph of Baghdad to the King of the Volga Bulgars. The beginning of the book is based on the real report of ibn Fadlan, who traveled up to what is now western Russia, including an encounter with Viking traders. Crichton's fictional ibn Fadlan then accompanies a band of Northmen, providing a first person account of what turns into parts of the Beowulf story.
While the writing style is a bit stilted, Crichton is still a very good storyteller - 7/10.
6/10 as a novel, but 10/10 as a history book for Tolkien. If I ever reread Lord of the Rings I'll probably pick up on a lot more references than I did last time.
Red Shirts by John Scalzi
8/10
A great book that was fun to read. It's nice to come across Sci-Fi that is both well written and funny. The adventures of a cadet on a space ship who figures out that wearing a red shirt and going on away missions can be hazardous to your health, so he figures out a plan to stay alive.
Mr. Penumbra's 24-hour Book Store by Robin Sloan
9/10
A wonderful book with just the right amount of quirkiness and whimsy to suit my tastes to a tee. An unemployed designer gets a job at a 24 hour bookstore that gets barely any customers, and the ones that he does get are strange and never buy any books; they just borrow them.
Follow up in the trilogy to Oryx and Crake, much improved over the first book. The characters are far more natural than her forced dialogue of teenage boys in the first novel. Enjoyed the back stories and charecters of Ren and Toby immensely. If the trilogy keeps improving like this then the third one later this year will be amazing.
The whole sermons by Adam One and the hymns were pointless, ended up skipping over them. Atwood tried to hard to add deep significant meaning to her book in a religious examination of society, like this will be some required University reading. It was too obvious and pretentious of Atwood, and like the critic Peter Griffin once said, "it insists upon itself".
Follow up in the trilogy to Oryx and Crake, much improved over the first book. The characters are far more natural than her forced dialogue of teenage boys in the first novel. Enjoyed the back stories and charecters of Ren and Toby immensely. If the trilogy keeps improving like this then the third one later this year will be amazing.
The whole sermons by Adam One and the hymns were pointless, ended up skipping over them. Atwood tried to hard to add deep significant meaning to her book in a religious examination of society, like this will be some required University reading. It was too obvious and pretentious of Atwood, and like the critic Peter Griffin once said, "it insists upon itself".
7/10
I admit I did skip over Adam One's sermons most of the time, but there is backstory buried in there. The downward arc of the surviving God's Gardeners is recounted in fits and starts. Really looking forward to the 3rd book in the trilogy.
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Reread Neuromancer and rereading Count Zero from William Gibson's Sprawl trilogy lately. Still great stuff.
This is the fourth book in the series and it was a little disappointing. It moves away to other stories within the story and leaves behind alot of the last book which I loved..Would have liked it to be a mix of continuing more of the other stories and advancing the newer ones but i guess that didn't work. It wasn't all bad it had it's moments but wasn't as griping as the others, tougher to read.. Still looking forward to the next one but may take a break in between and start something fresh..
Review grading
Book 1 9/10
Book 2 8.5
Book 3 9.5
Book 4 7.5
As an inspirational book it succeeds, the hard work of this man is nothing short of amazing under his circumstances. I truly wish he was able to write the book in a different era because the pandering to the white people at the time is unbearable. I understand he couldn't rip on them for what they did or probably be burned alive, so the fault isn't with Washington.
But reading any part of it where he claims there are no hard feelings or that white people are generous and kind and wanted the former slaves to succeed is hard to believe. There's a passage about the Ku Klux Klan where he talks about some bad things they've done but then goes on to say they no longer exist and that past is behind everyone, the courteousy of the South won out over any hatred...
Yikes.
Really wish he could have had this book written in 2012, because his story is amazing, but I would like to hear the real story.
Overall - 4/10
Some great stuff, a lot of boring areas about fundraising and the disengenious tone to the book don't translate well today knowing what we do.
The Picture of Dorian Grey-Oscar Wilde 8.5/10
One flew over the Cuckoo's Nest-Ken Kesey 8/10
The Brothers K-F.Dostoevsky 9/10
The Stand-Steven King 8.5/10
The Pianist-Wladyslaw Szpilman 8/10
Notes from Underground-F.Dostoevsky 9/10
Room-Emma Donoghue 8/10
Shakey-Neil Young Biography 7/10
Last edited by Iron Throne: 02-15-2013 at 05:12 PM.
Hey, I'm pretty much a n00b to reading, so I have a few questions and I think the people in this thread could help me.
First off, I have this theory that high school (at least public high schools) in America absolutely turn kids off from reading. The way reading is forced as assignments I think is the wrong way to go about it. I was assigned classics in school that probably really ruined it for me. Books like The Great Gatsby and the epic poems like The Odyssey I was "forced" to read and therefore never did. I don't know any way to solve this, maybe it's just me that it affected, but who knows.
Anyways, I was hoping some of you guys could point me in the direction of some "American Classics" that I should check out.
Books like The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mocking Bird, etc.. etc.. Also if anyone has any recommendations for books about American History (I really enjoyed Killing Lincoln and Killing Kennedy and am somewhat fascinated by American History and would like to learn more).
Anyways, can anyone recommend me "the essentials" of these themes? It would be greatly appreciated.
Hey, I'm pretty much a n00b to reading, so I have a few questions and I think the people in this thread could help me.
First off, I have this theory that high school (at least public high schools) in America absolutely turn kids off from reading. The way reading is forced as assignments I think is the wrong way to go about it. I was assigned classics in school that probably really ruined it for me. Books like The Great Gatsby and the epic poems like The Odyssey I was "forced" to read and therefore never did. I don't know any way to solve this, maybe it's just me that it affected, but who knows.
Anyways, I was hoping some of you guys could point me in the direction of some "American Classics" that I should check out.
Books like The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mocking Bird, etc.. etc.. Also if anyone has any recommendations for books about American History (I really enjoyed Killing Lincoln and Killing Kennedy and am somewhat fascinated by American History and would like to learn more).
Anyways, can anyone recommend me "the essentials" of these themes? It would be greatly appreciated.
First of all, Bill O'Rielly has been proven to have lied in his book about Kennedy so please stop funding and reading his crap.
Secondly, it's up to you to start reading and then figure out what you like - it's one of the greatest forms of entertainment but people are just too intimidated by the number of options before them. The Great Gatsby is, for a multitude of reasons, THE American novel, especially if you're considering "American Classics" it doesn't get any more classic than that - barring maybe Huck Finn.
If you liked Catcher in the Rye you'll probably like Franny and Zooey also by Salinger. But I think that you'll like The Gunslinger by Stephen King - it's book one of a series but it's a really cool book and interesting to read and very well written, it's what drew me into reading. Otherwise if you want something simple to get your feet wet, I recently read The Pearl by Steinbeck and it's very short and very easy and it can get the gears moving. Also easy to read and fun is The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson, it goes well with the movie. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse is another easy read which is also a 20th century classic.
I'm not naming the "essentials" because the chances are you won't like them right off the bat. You have to start to enjoy reading first, reading for leisure and as a form of entertainment, and then your appreciation of the craft will grow. Walk before you can run.
My favourite ever book is A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole - the main character is highly unlikable, if you can get past that I think it's (one of) the funniest works of fiction ever produced.
First of all, Bill O'Rielly has been proven to have lied in his book about Kennedy so please stop funding and reading his crap.
Secondly, it's up to you to start reading and then figure out what you like - it's one of the greatest forms of entertainment but people are just too intimidated by the number of options before them. The Great Gatsby is, for a multitude of reasons, THE American novel, especially if you're considering "American Classics" it doesn't get any more classic than that - barring maybe Huck Finn.
If you liked Catcher in the Rye you'll probably like Franny and Zooey also by Salinger. But I think that you'll like The Gunslinger by Stephen King - it's book one of a series but it's a really cool book and interesting to read and very well written, it's what drew me into reading. Otherwise if you want something simple to get your feet wet, I recently read The Pearl by Steinbeck and it's very short and very easy and it can get the gears moving. Also easy to read and fun is The Rum Diary by Hunter S. Thompson, it goes well with the movie. Siddhartha by Herman Hesse is another easy read which is also a 20th century classic.
I'm not naming the "essentials" because the chances are you won't like them right off the bat. You have to start to enjoy reading first, reading for leisure and as a form of entertainment, and then your appreciation of the craft will grow. Walk before you can run.
My favourite ever book is A Confederacy of Dunces by John Kennedy Toole - the main character is highly unlikable, if you can get past that I think it's (one of) the funniest works of fiction ever produced.
Really? What did O'Reilly lie about?
Also, never read Catcher in the Rye just listed that as an example of what I (with no knowledge) believe to be an example of an "American Classic"
Siad it before, and will say it again. Patrick O'Brian's Aubrey and Maturin series is the most fun I have ever had reading. Absolutely wonderful books. Such a joy to read.
Just finished reading The Throat by Peter Straub, the third book in the "Blue Rose Trilogy". Koko (#1) took me a bit to get through, but I enjoyed it overall and I thought Mystery (#2) and The Throat were fantastic front-to-back.
Quote:
On "The Blue Rose" from wiki:
Together with Koko and The Throat, Mystery forms a series of novels often referred to as the "Blue Rose Trilogy." Though the novels feature similar themes and many of the same characters, they do not take place in strict continuity with each other; for instance, the main character of Mystery, Tom Pasmore, goes on to appear in The Throat and two other novels, but a major element of Tom's backstory- a childhood accident that left him hospitalized and incapacitated for several months- is transplanted to the main character of those novels, a writer and Vietnam veteran named Tim Underhill.
The title "Blue Rose" refers to the signature of a serial killer who committed a series of murders in Underhill's hometown (the words Blue Rose were written on walls near the bodies of each victim). The murders are only briefly mentioned in Koko and Mystery, but become the central focus of The Throat.
Just ordered The Catcher in the Rye, and To Kill a Mockingbird. Those will be my first trips.
After that will probably be The Great Gatsby, The Grapes of Wrath, and Lord of the Flies (which isn't by an American but probably a 'classic' I should still check out)
Really fun series. The whole assassin aspect is what drew me in, but Weeks actually created a very compelling world outside of the initial main characters. When I read fantasy, I'd prefer it be more along the lines of other worlds but minimal magic, but I had very little issue with the magic being used here. Honestly left me wanting more, was kind of upset when the trilogy ended. He could honestly write another 5 books in the series and I would be enthralled. Just good story writing.
