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UltimatelySubjective Since: Jun, 2011
#1226: Sep 17th 2013 at 6:47:30 PM

Well, finished The man who was Thursday. I liked it I think.

It was quite short, but

And now I'm going to sound like a hypocrite but the prose had some nicely turned phrases and clever juxtaposition.

It almost feels like a precursor to the Gaiman's writing in tone and setting, or like it could easily become a Terry Pratchett novel if a simple comedic twist were added (it involves undercover policemen unknowingly chasing other undercover policemen for a start).

The narrative ended abruptly but the metatext was, I think, complete by that point so it still works. That said, the maybe just a dream ending probably wouldn't fly as well in this century.

I'm a little unsure exactly what to make of what the story was saying (a simple message about anarchy or society perhaps?) but it inspires me to think about it in a good way.

WarriorEowyn from Victoria Since: Oct, 2010
#1227: Sep 19th 2013 at 8:07:48 PM

I've recently finished Wolf Hall, a historical novel from the point of view of Thomas Cromwell covering a fair portion of the reign of Henry VIII, including the establishment of the Church of England. It feels like it's designed as a rebuttal to the play "A Man For All Seasons", portraying Thomas More extremely negatively. It's an okay read, but not all that engrossing.

This inspired me to read The Other Boleyn Girl, covering the same period from the point of view of Anne's sister Mary Boleyn. It's more fun to read than Wolf Hall, but not as high-quality of writing.

I'm now reading The Historian by Elizabeth Kostova, a wonderful book that involves three successive historians from different generations delving into, and getting caught up in, the Dracula mythos. Not very far in yet, but loving it; the writing style is excellent and it's deliciously spooky.

edited 19th Sep '13 8:08:47 PM by WarriorEowyn

NatTheWriter Since: Oct, 2011
#1228: Sep 23rd 2013 at 10:43:30 AM

With three literature-based classes on the docket, I've been doing a lot of reading. It's manageable so far, I'd say. I just finished A Hero of Our Time and Inch'Allah Dimanche, and am now starting Eugene Onegin, The Queen of Spades, and Une Si Longue Lettre.

A Hero of Our Time was...interesting. I'd fancy a reread, just to better analyze Pechorin's character.

SKJAM Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
#1229: Sep 25th 2013 at 9:36:49 AM

Most recently read were a children's book on cultural diversity, and a wildlife photography book. Also, my giveaway is still going through 9/30/13 http://www.skjam.com/2013/09/16/giveaway-autumn-giveaway-ends-september-30-2013/

MidnightRambler Ich bin nicht schuld! 's ist Gottes Plan! from Germania Inferior Since: Mar, 2011
Ich bin nicht schuld! 's ist Gottes Plan!
#1230: Oct 26th 2013 at 2:54:51 PM

My grandparents are moving into a retirement home. They will have less space to themselves there than they have in their current flat, so they needed to get rid of a lot of their books. Well, I was more than willing to help with that when they asked me...

Seriously, it felt like being in Ali Baba's cave of treasures. This is what I took home:

- Dutch Lit Fic: Hildebrand, Multatuli, Claus, Reve, Bernlef, a lot of Vestdijk, and the complete works of Couperus and Elsschot
- English and American Lit Fic: Twain, Steinbeck, Greene, Huxley
- German Lit Fic: All Quiet on the Western Front by Erich Maria Remarque
- The collected letters of Otto von Bismarck, and those of Crown Prince Wilhelm (the son of Emperor Wilhelm II)
- Kant's Critique of Pure Reason
- Books on the philosophy of mathematics and science
- History books: Dutch history, a book about the history of the labour movement, and a very thick book about the end of the Roman Republic
- A handy little book about Germanic mythology
- The Longest Day by Cornelius Ryan
- A French book about wave mechanics by the famous physicist Louis de Broglie
- Several leather-bound tomes from the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries (!!!) including Phaedrus' fables and the complete works of Aristotle. Not that I'll be able to really read these, since they're in Latin, but they're still awesome to have just for historical reasons.

I don't think I'll get up to anything but reading for the next five years.

Mache dich, mein Herze, rein...
phantom1 Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: Chocolate!
#1231: Oct 27th 2013 at 4:15:11 PM

[up]Sounds interesting (only book out of that I read is All Quiet On the Western Front, not that's surprising given the Math books) I'm currently reading my textbooks (which don't really count), and A Blight Of Mages (I really should have read prior books besides Innocent Mage, but I've run out of reading books). Having to read textbooks takes the fun out of reading my mom's old ones.

BonsaiForest Since: Jan, 2001
#1232: Oct 30th 2013 at 6:43:08 AM

I had read Running Out of Time, and reviewed it. It's a Fish out of Temporal Water story that's simple and works well.

Ninety Absolutely no relation to NLK from Land of Quakes and Hills Since: Nov, 2012 Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
Absolutely no relation to NLK
#1233: Oct 30th 2013 at 5:07:08 PM

I got Before they are hanged, but what I'm hearing about the overdone deconstruction and grimdarkness of the plot is making me want to read it less. I think I'm gonna reread Warbreaker instead.

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.
Hodor Cleric of Banjo from Westeros Since: Dec, 1969
Cleric of Banjo
#1234: Oct 30th 2013 at 5:21:04 PM

I'd definitely recommend Warbreaker. I'd also recommend Before They Were Hangede though- I actually checked it out from the library a few times and hadn't liked it, but then I read the standalone/semi-sequel Best Served Cold as well as Red Country, and realized how much of a sense of humor Joe Abercrombie had.

I think the original trilogy works best if you don't care about any of the characters, and with that caveat, it is an entertaining read. In later books in the series there are actually some sympathetic characters who sometimes succeed.

Edit, edit, edit, edit the wiki
Akalabth Self-loathing and sandwiches. from Ghost Planet Since: Feb, 2012
Self-loathing and sandwiches.
#1235: Nov 5th 2013 at 8:41:52 AM

Picked up the 2013 Hugo Award winner, called Redshirts, by John Scalzi, which is of course about the Star Trek universe's favorite chew toys.

Just started reading it, and it's a ton of fun... I'm kind of curious to see where the story will go, but so far it's excellent, almost Pratchett-esque in its approach to humor.

edited 5th Nov '13 8:43:08 AM by Akalabth

You are standing in an open field west of a white house, with a boarded front door. There is a small mailbox here.
MHMhasf1998 Since: Oct, 2012
#1236: Nov 8th 2013 at 4:49:34 AM

Finished Cold Days, the latest book of the Dresden Files series, and abosolutely loved it. My personal favorite bit was when Harry's cavalry arrived singin "We Will Rock You", as well as any scene with Badass Santa. I'm currently reading Storm Front, which is the first book in the series, because it was the only one at the library at the time. I'm going to compare how good Cold Days is, and see Jim Butcher's steady improvement throughout the series to reach that quality of work.

Ninety Absolutely no relation to NLK from Land of Quakes and Hills Since: Nov, 2012 Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
Absolutely no relation to NLK
#1237: Nov 8th 2013 at 10:41:46 AM

Wait, you've only read Cold Days? Oy.

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.
MHMhasf1998 Since: Oct, 2012
#1238: Nov 8th 2013 at 5:55:17 PM

Hey, I just got into this series! Plus, it was the only one at my local library at the time. Seriously, you would expect them to have the entire set instead of one at a time.

Ninety Absolutely no relation to NLK from Land of Quakes and Hills Since: Nov, 2012 Relationship Status: In Spades with myself
Absolutely no relation to NLK
#1239: Nov 8th 2013 at 8:30:51 PM

Oh, sorry, didn't mean to sound like I was criticizing. It's just that Cold Days has a trillion spoilers for the other books. Obviously.

Dopants: He meant what he said and he said what he meant, a Ninety is faithful 100%.
MHMhasf1998 Since: Oct, 2012
#1240: Nov 8th 2013 at 9:31:44 PM

Apology accepted, and I'M sorry for sounding so defensive. yeah, it's not good starting at the tail end of the series( I actually read the Harry Potter books backwards order, after seeing the first four films, of course) but it gets me hyped up for when the awesome stuff that they mention actually HAPPENS. Plus, I really had no other choice except for waiting a while, which I wasn't gonna do.

SKJAM Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
#1241: Nov 15th 2013 at 1:23:25 PM

I have a book giveaway running through 11/30/13 at SKJAM! Reviews. 15 prizes, up to 3 winners. http://www.skjam.com

CassidyTheDevil Since: Jan, 2013
#1242: Jan 16th 2014 at 2:50:46 AM

Who's read Tamora Pierce? I think her books are really good.

Just saw that Terrier got two sequels, really late. Read that book forever ago, I'll reread it and maybe get those later.

LoniJay from Australia Since: Dec, 2009 Relationship Status: Pining for the fjords
#1243: Jan 16th 2014 at 3:57:03 AM

I loved Tamora Pierce so much when I was younger. Still have all the books, and they're very good fantasy novels. Haven't been as fond of her later works, though - I liked Terrier and its sequel fine, but something about the third book seemed sort of off to me.

Lately I've been reading Jam, by Yahtzee Crosshaw, which I bought for my brother for Christmas. It's set in a city I'm very familiar with, which is rare. The basic premise: One day the protagonists wake up to find that the city has been covered in a three-foot layer of carnivorous strawberry jam.

edited 16th Jan '14 3:59:52 AM by LoniJay

Be not afraid...
CassidyTheDevil Since: Jan, 2013
#1244: Feb 6th 2014 at 6:11:24 AM

This sounds really neat. :D I don't own any Apple products though. :T

SKJAM Since: Jan, 2001 Relationship Status: Baby don't hurt me!
#1245: Feb 18th 2014 at 8:39:29 PM

Reading In The Wet by Neville Shute (author of On the Beach) which abruptly goes from the biography of an Anglican priest in north Australia in the 1950s to the tale of an aviator in the then future 1980s. An aviator whose nickname (which he insists all his friends use) is the N-word. He apparently has N-Word Privileges by virtue of being one-quarter Aborigine.

edited 18th Feb '14 8:39:47 PM by SKJAM

JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Apparition in the Woods
#1246: Jun 4th 2014 at 2:58:40 AM

New Ligotti! First stories in ten years!'

*prolonged girlish squee sounds*

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
CardsOfWar Handy-Dandy Chord Finder from The Ocean Bed Since: Apr, 2013
Handy-Dandy Chord Finder
#1247: Jun 6th 2014 at 8:54:12 PM

I recently started The Book Of The New Sun. I have been slowly finding out how absolutely insane and strange a book it is. Do we have any WMG or analysis-like article for it? If not, could someone link me to an analysis, so that I can compare my theories about it once I'm finished reading it.

"I thought Djent was just a band" -Physical Stamina
JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Apparition in the Woods
#1248: Jun 11th 2014 at 6:25:30 PM

I'd advise you just keep reading and make up your own mind. Wolfe is not preachy, but he is very deep.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.
KnightofNASA Since: Jan, 2013
#1249: Jun 19th 2014 at 1:59:48 PM

Finished Between Shades of Gray. Dried tears on glasses are quite hard to wipe out.

I will start a trope page later this month, if others haven't.

JHM Apparition in the Woods from Niemandswasser Since: Aug, 2010 Relationship Status: Hounds of love are hunting
Apparition in the Woods
#1250: Jun 20th 2014 at 11:25:34 PM

Tears on glasses are indeed problematic, although it can be emotionally satisfying to find yourself receiving those unfortunate stains.

I'll hide your name inside a word and paint your eyes with false perception.

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