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Call Me Charlie
Dec 3, 2005

by Smythe
I have Smokin' Joe: The Autobiography of a Heavyweight Champion of the World, Smokin' Joe Frazier on the way from PaperBackSwap. I listened to interview with him on Opie & Anthony and he seemed like a fascinating guy.

Started Darkly Dreaming Dexter by Jeff Lindsay late last night. I'm a big fan of the TV show so I figured I would read the books and see just how much they changed. So far, so good.

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Merou
Jul 23, 2005
mean green? :(

I bought The Road today. I've been seeing a fair amount of Cormac McCarthy threads lately (and in the last page alone 2 people also bought this book) so I decided to give his books a try. I think if I like his writing style I'm going to buy more of his work but I'm still going to just take it a book at a time. I've been trying not to buy books I'm not ready to start right away anymore. It leads to a large backlog. :(

JayJay
Jun 16, 2005

TEHHHHHH Jetplane!

I haven't read anything in a while, and I was bored friday night so I hit up the book store. Picked up, Black Company, Dresden Files Book 1 and a Wizards First Rule Working on the first Black Company book to see if I like it. Hopefully one of these is awesome.

MartingaleJack
Aug 26, 2004

I'll split you open and I don't even like coconuts.
Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. Guy writes workman-like fantasy novels. His writing attempts nothing really new, but it is entertaining and solid, and the prose is way better than any other in his class (Kevin J. Anderson, R.A. Salvatore, etc.)

sicDaniel
May 10, 2009
Thanks to this thread, I also started The Unblemished by Conrad Williams.
For the first 80 pages, I didīt really get it, and the story about Bo seemed too much like a Midnight Meat Train - ripoff, and there were too many unconnected subplots, but during the second chapter everything falls into place, and now I really love it.

Red Dad Redemption
Sep 29, 2007

Archyduke posted:

Thomas Merton? I'm a huge fan of his poetry but never read his theological (I guess? Maybe his spiritual work is more apt?) stuff. Hm.

It was New Seeds of Contemplation; I also read The Seven Storey Mountain not too long ago. I really enjoyed both of them, but - fair warning - I happen to have an interest in the general topic area (mysticism, contemplation, meditation, etc. of various traditions), and they might have been tough sledding otherwise.

Chronic Reagan
Oct 13, 2000

pictures of plastic men
Fun Shoe
I'm taking a break from Generic Fantasy #897 I am reading, and as a whim picked up The Strain by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. So far it's playing out like the pilot of 'Fringe', except with vampires. Will have to read more before I make a judgement, but the one thing I do like about the book is that is a nicely designed object. Underneath the dustjacket is a blood red cover with a fuzzy picture of some large space like Grand Central station (which it might be, being set in NYC). The physical book is a step above the average mass publication, which is nice.

exe cummings
Jan 22, 2005

Catcher in the Rye. I read it in high school, but I didn't pay attention. I'm enjoying it much more this time. It's compelling in a chaotic way.

Foyes36
Oct 23, 2005

Food fight!

fuzzknot posted:

I just bought Finnegan's Wake and Ulysses, both by James Joyce. I was primarily reading The Count of Monte Cristo but will probably set it aside to read Finnegan's Wake. I bought the James Joyce books because my Irish grandfather recently passed away, so there's been a surge of Irish everything around my house lately.

Ulysses is an absolutely amazing novel. I just finished it two days ago, and want to wish everyone here a happy Bloomsday!

Finnegans Wake (drat the apostrophe, Joyce hates conventional punctuation) is...something else. I've always been told to read Ulysses first, but I do own a copy of the Wake. It's more to show friends then actually attempt to read, though one of these days I'll tackle it.

Varicose Brains
Apr 10, 2008

Just bought Programming in Objective-C 2.0 and Learning Perl. Once I've finished with Learning Perl I'll probably buy the Camel too.

Laminator
Jan 18, 2004

You up for some serious plastic surgery?
Just finished American Gods and picked up American Psycho. I'm about 100 pages in and it's starting to get pretty good, but I haven't read a book with this much dialog in a long time, so it has taken some getting used to. also, I guess I have an obsession with weird things in america???

Kikkoman
Nov 28, 2002

Posing along since 2005
I started George R.R. Martin's A Game of Thrones this weekend, after having found it in my brother's library. It's fun to read things that have nothing to do with college.

muscles like this!
Jan 17, 2005


Just started Warren Ellis' Crooked Little Vein its enjoyable so far but is packed to the gills with "Ellis-isms." Basically the main character is hired by the US Government (through a smack addicted White House Chief of Staff) to find the Secret Constitution and every lead he follows seems to include some new kind of pervert.

Edged Hymn
Feb 4, 2009

by Y Kant Ozma Post
Just started Handbook of Christian Apologetics by Peter Kreeft and Ronald Tacelli because, as an agnostic, I figured I could stand to gain by reading some of the more intelligent arguments for the existence of God and all that jazz. I haven't been disappointed so far. Though the arguments for the existence of a personal God leave something to be desired, the arguments for the existence of some sort of transcendent intelligence are pretty sound. Really enjoying it so far.

goat boy
Dec 28, 2006
I volunteered for Vietnam to get out of Alabama
Castles of Steel but I am guilty of jumping to the section on the North Sea Mine Barrage and the Battle of Jutland because I'm reviewing my work I did on the personal papers of Adm. R.R. Belknap. I intend to read the whole book but 800 pages of WWI naval history is a bit much just to get the information I need right now.

Foyes36
Oct 23, 2005

Food fight!
Siddhartha by Herman Hesse. I've heard a lot of good things about it.

How Wonderful!
Jul 18, 2006


I only have excellent ideas
Found a lot of nice stuff at a B&N clearance this weekend. The Years by Virginia Woolf, another copy of Kant and the Platypus by Umberto Eco (loved this when I read it but never had my own copy), a big gorgeous Eco-edited anthology, On Ugliness, and The Varieties of Religious Experience by Carl Sagan which looks pretty good and warmed my hackles in recollection of good old William James.

Ulstan
Apr 29, 2008

LICENSED SARAH PALIN WHITE KNIGHT
Stalingrad: The Fateful Siege: 1942-1943 by Antony Beevor

Basically you didn't want to be a soldier on either side anywhere near Stalingrad, and you didn't want to be a peasant anywhere near the front lines. Stalin and Hitler were both absolutely amoral, brutal, ruthless men.

Power of Pecota
Aug 4, 2007

Goodness no, now that wouldn't do at all!

Just bought The Final Solution by Michael Chabon, I've never read any of his stuff but heard good things about it as a whole, not anything about The Final Solution specifically, although the first two chapters are kind of stilted so far.

Ballsworthy
Apr 30, 2008

yup

Dinner Dream posted:

Just bought The Final Solution by Michael Chabon, I've never read any of his stuff but heard good things about it as a whole, not anything about The Final Solution specifically, although the first two chapters are kind of stilted so far.

Not the best introduction to the man's work, imo. Try not to form any lasting impressions about him based on that one alone. Not that it's bad or anything, it's just not much like the rest of his stuff.

sicDaniel
May 10, 2009

Laminator posted:

Just finished American Gods and picked up American Psycho. I'm about 100 pages in and it's starting to get pretty good, but I haven't read a book with this much dialog in a long time, so it has taken some getting used to. also, I guess I have an obsession with weird things in america???

Are you implying that those two books are comparable? That would be awesome, because I love American Psycho and American Gods is still sitting in my bookshelf, probably my next read. I mainly bought it due to the positive reviews but honestly I have almost no clue what itīs about.

Static Rook
Dec 1, 2000

by Lowtax
Just bought, and started, two:

Hero with a Thousand Faces by Joseph Campbell. I've read books about Joseph Campbell's work, but never any of his actual writing before. This is awesome and I'm zipping through it. Can't wait to pick up more after reading this one. The edition I bought is a recent reprint from the Joseph Campbell Society, it's a well-made hardcover and I'm happy to support them.

The Peasant Prince by Alex Storozynski. Thaddues Kosciuszko is the baddest Polish man who ever lived. That's the gist of the book and I'm inclined to agree. He was a Polish engineer who helped win the American Revolution by building forts-the most notable being West Point- and defending George Washington's early retreats by slowing down the British with downed trees and rerouted rivers and such. Then he goes home to Poland and starts a peasant revolution, it fails but he tries again. In his will, Kosciuszko wanted his estate to be used to free as many American slaves as it could, but Jefferson dithered and it got tied up in courts for decades. All this and I just started reading!

korgy
Sep 16, 2006

BananaNutkins posted:

Warbreaker by Brandon Sanderson. Guy writes workman-like fantasy novels. His writing attempts nothing really new, but it is entertaining and solid, and the prose is way better than any other in his class (Kevin J. Anderson, R.A. Salvatore, etc.)

I also started this as well. So far its great. I loved his Mistborn trilogy so I expect this will be just as good if not better!

Wyllt
May 6, 2009
Just picked up Blood Meridian by Cormac McCarthy, 1984 by George Orwell, A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway and The Call of Cthulhu and Other Weird Stories by H.P. Lovecraft. Im currently reading House of Leaves and am about 200 pages from finishing. Any suggestions on which book from those four to read next?

muscles like this!
Jan 17, 2005


Blood Meridian is kind of a difficult read until it clicks with you (if it ever does) so I'd say hold back on that one at least. Lovecraft is all short stories so you could probably read it in between other stuff and since I've never read A Moveable Feast I'd say go with 1984.

Red Dad Redemption
Sep 29, 2007

Just (re)started Dark Night of the Soul by St John of the Cross, a book I last read perhaps 20 years ago. It's a classic of mysticism, and what's striking, as so often is the case in this area, is the similarities between his experience and admonitions and those from other traditions (e.g., sufi, buddhist, hindu).

MIDWIFE CRISIS
Nov 5, 2008

Ta gueule, laisse-moi finir.
The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay by Michael Chabon


I'm about a 100 pages in and it feels like it was tailored precisely to my preferences. It's criminally early to say this, but it's shaping up to be my favorite book ever.

Cloudspit
Mar 8, 2009
The book club we have here just finished "The Road" by Cormac McCarthy. It was a very good read.

The book we are going to be reading next starting tomorrow is "Ender's Game" by Orson Scott Card. I have already read this one but it deserves another read through.

NeuroCycle
Jun 21, 2009
I just finished A Feast for Crows.

I thought it was still a good book, the worst of the series so far, as I see others agree. Reason I didn't like it as much as the others was because if focused more on characters that I don't find as interesting as others. Plus I think it lost its flow and energy since he basically had to split up the story into two books AFFC and A Dance with Dragons.

In the mean time I just stared the fantasy series The Summoner by Gail Z. Martin.

poronty
Oct 19, 2006
a hung Aryan
Don't Sleep, There Are Snakes by Daniel Everett -
I'm halfway into this and it's absolutely gripping, eye-opening and hugely educational to boot. I came across it while searching for books of the popular linguistics type on Amazon. Just stumbled upon it, really. And now I've found a new role model in the author of this book - so much so that I actually want to meet him and talk to him in person, which has never happened to me with any of the hundreds of authors I've read.

Also bought but haven't yet started:

Stiff by Mary Roach - the phone interview with her on the Sick & Wrong podcast made me curious

The Fight For English by David Crystal - a book about the pros and cons of grammar nazism (which I as an ESL have been severely guilty of, despite all the mistakes I make in my English)

Mokinokaro
Sep 11, 2001

At the end of everything, hold onto anything



Fun Shoe
Picked up Snow Crash, Mona Lisa Overdrive and Blood Meridian. Really like McCarthy and have never read SC yet. Not sure which to start with.

Haven't read Count Zero. Is it necessary before going into Mona Lisa? They didn't have CZ at the store.

Anamnesis
Jan 6, 2009

In Search of Lost Time
I'm starting The Stranger by Albert Camus; it was recommended from another thread. I hear nothing but good things about this book.

Jekub
Jul 21, 2006

April, May, June, July and August fool
I got Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold for fathers day, good pick from the wife that. It's off to a cracking start so far, after wading through the dense, clumsy mess that was Gardens of the Moon (book one of Malazan book of the Fallen, even the name is awkward) it has so far been a breath of fresh air.

Anamnesis
Jan 6, 2009

In Search of Lost Time
Finished The Stranger, now I'm moving on to The Metamophosis by Franz Kafka. Trying to get done with some of the shorter classics before diving into others.

PITTSBURGH GLUE FORTUNE
Sep 24, 2002



Another trip to the used book store has left me with Rendezvouz With Rama by Clarke; Moorcock's Behold the Man; and Hyperion. Oh I also picked up A Question of Character by a fellow goon and his dad.

Behold the Man is pretty awesome and I finished it in a couple hours, but now I don't know what to move on to. I am thinking Clarke.

xBeanx
Jul 10, 2004

"No matter how good you are at something, there's always about a million people better than you."
I just picked up The Strain: Book One of The Strain Trilogy by Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan. I'm a big fan of series books, even though I dont like having to wait long for the next book in the series.

Chairman Capone
Dec 17, 2008

Mokinokaro posted:

Picked up Snow Crash, Mona Lisa Overdrive and Blood Meridian. Really like McCarthy and have never read SC yet. Not sure which to start with.

Haven't read Count Zero. Is it necessary before going into Mona Lisa? They didn't have CZ at the store.

From what I recall (although I haven't read either one in years so maybe I'm forgetting something) I think there's little to no connection between the two, other than both being in the Sprawl setting, so I'd say you should be fine.

anathenema
Apr 8, 2009

Jekub posted:

I got Joe Abercrombie's Best Served Cold for fathers day, good pick from the wife that. It's off to a cracking start so far, after wading through the dense, clumsy mess that was Gardens of the Moon (book one of Malazan book of the Fallen, even the name is awkward) it has so far been a breath of fresh air.

I just got this from England recently and have been going into it pretty savagely. I'm highly pleased by it, so far. It's actually really nice to have a straightforward plot that focuses on characters instead of masturbating to how HUGE THE WORLD IS, AND THE SOCIO-POLITICAL COMMENTARY UNNGNNGGHGHGGHGhhh...

But that may be exaggerating.

quote:

The Summoner by Gail Z. Martin

Please tell me what you think of this, because it struck me as a unique concept with a really lame plot (obviously innocent prince raises army of the dead to take back his kingdom from his brother, Evil McBabykiller.)

I just finished Acacia by David Anthony Durham, which seems to be following the usual trend of dispossessed aristocracy with political intrigue as written by a dude with three names that George R.R. Martin started. And it was basically A Game of Thrones lite, save that the author really, really stretched to make his characters get naked a often as possible (including a scene in which the ragtag rebel army realizes the only way to kill the rampaging hellbeasts set upon them by the tyrants is to get nude). Very good read for those that thought AGoT had too much story and too deep characters.

Izzy Mandelbaum
Dec 5, 2006

It's go time
I just finished The Black Dahlia by James Ellroy and The Maltese Falcon by Dashiell Hammett. Both were amazing in their own way.

About a quarter of the way through In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. It's way better than I expected. I knew it was meant to be good but I didn't expect to like his writing style this much.

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Encryptic
May 3, 2007

anathenema posted:

Please tell me what you think of this, because it struck me as a unique concept with a really lame plot (obviously innocent prince raises army of the dead to take back his kingdom from his brother, Evil McBabykiller.)

I read it a couple years back and it is. I wouldn't bother wasting your time with it unless you really can't get enough of cliched epic fantasy. Even the part that appealed to me (the necromancy stuff) isn't all that interesting.

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