What BOOK(s) are you reading?

My sister got my Sanderson's Mistborn trilogy for Christmas. I've finished the first book, and I'm just a few chapters into book two.

The first one was pretty good. Sanderson is very gifted at writing action, and the fight scenes are all highly cinematic. The magic system is cool, but it takes a lot of explanation. And anyway, commenting on the magic system is like commenting on the sound editing in a movie.

But yeah, it's a good read. It doesn't dawdle or stall to stretch the book over a series. It accomplishes in one book what many books do in like 4. The characterizations are good in places, and kind of wobbly in others. But I think that it can be figured out in sequels. Given the way the first book ended, the second book essentially has to operate in a completely new framework. Pretty cool, and I'm excited to see where it goes.

HA! A co-worker just came by my desk a minute ago to tell me about that series.

I guess I'm gonna have to check it out.

Yeah, it's good. This is my second Sanderson series I've embarked on. I read The Way of Kings, and I liked it. I think it was stronger in characterization and detail. But it's also stupid long, and crawls along in places.

Mistborn is much more direct, and even if it's a little spottier with some of the structure, it moves really well. I definitely am interested to read more.

Retribution: The Battle for Japan, 1944-45 by Max Hastings. This is about the endgame in the Pacific in WWII and Hastings isn't afraid to express his opinions.

Much of the book takes place in China which essentially was a three-way stalemate and I found that part of the book a bit tedious. The stuff in the Pacific and in Japan was very interesting and the Soviet advances after Japan capitulated was a part of the history I was not well aware of. A good read overall but some chapters could be skipped for parts of the theater you aren't interested in.

S.

I'm trying to finish up A Dance with Dragons. I'm about 85% of the way in, and it's just been super tedious to read. Someone needs to remind Martin how to advance the story. This thing is like War and Peace or Atlas Shrugged.

Just finished Taken by Robert Crais and enjoyed it thoroughly. If you are a fan of Crais and his characters Elvis Cole and Joe Pike, you will likely enjoy this book. It is more action heavy than other titles in the series, but give the emotional weight of some of those less action-oriented books I am A-OK with this one.

I have finished the first two Foundation novels and they have been great so far. I'm only a little into the third, but it is definitely dwelling on the same timeframe for far longer than the first one and a half books. I can't decide if this is good or bad. I really enjoyed the style of leaps through time to different important events in the timeline.

I am also nearly finished with Michael Chabon's Summerland. This one started slowly, but I have really been enjoy the middle section of the book. It isn't necessary anything deep, but a solid adventure story.

Finally, I have been reading Joyce's Dubliners off and on. I've read about 8 or 9 stories. I thought this would be a difficult read, but it hasn't been. There are definitely some things that are difficult to understand as a modern reader, but I read the Spark Notes afterwards and it fills in any missing holes that I had. I have hopes to eventually read Ulysses and Dubliners has been a good way to start with Joyce's work.

Dair wrote: I have finished the first two Foundation novels and they have been great so far. I'm only a little into the third, but it is definitely dwelling on the same timeframe for far longer than the first one and a half books. I can't decide if this is good or bad. I really enjoyed the style of leaps through time to different important events in the timeline.

I am also nearly finished with Michael Chabon's Summerland. This one started slowly, but I have really been enjoy the middle section of the book. It isn't necessary anything deep, but a solid adventure story.

Finally, I have been reading Joyce's Dubliners off and on. I've read about 8 or 9 stories. I thought this would be a difficult read, but it hasn't been. There are definitely some things that are difficult to understand as a modern reader, but I read the Spark Notes afterwards and it fills in any missing holes that I had. I have hopes to eventually read Ulysses and Dubliners has been a good way to start with Joyce's work.

I love the Foundation series. You can go through Asimov's books basically in a chronological order from books like Caves of Steel and I, Robot all the way through Foundation and Earth (1986). I'm not as big of a fan of the newer Foundation books written by Baer, Blin and Benford because the writing style is so different. Maybe I'll give them another read.

The thing I like best about the Asimov stuff is how much influence you can see on other works, such as Star Wars and Star Trek. Keep at it, I think you'll be happy you finished at least the four main foundation books.

Morat Gurgeh wrote: I love the Foundation series.

Me too! LOVE me some Foundation, especially the original three.

the library has just opened a graphic novel section there. awesome, all the walking dead books, which I have no interest in owning, are there to read for free.

I just read Wonderful Life by Stephen Jay Gould. The first chapter (most of it) was very good... I was less enamored by his rather pedantic breakdown of the researcher who originally worked on the fossils (Walcott). It is interesting to imagine that perhaps human level intelligence is an incredibly unlikely contingency, even if you ran 1,000 earths.

Lovely day today.

lj1983 wrote: the library has just opened a graphic novel section there. awesome, all the walking dead books, which I have no interest in owning, are there to read for free.

Yeah that's how I've been reading the series too, until I got a notice and a bill recently for $30 from them stating I lost one of the volumes. In my 30 something years of owning a library card I have never lost a book. Stolen one, yes, years & years ago from a different city library but never lost one. Now my card won't work until I pay off the fines.

Yeah, I'm bummed out.

Two pages of some crappy fantasy my wife checked out got a little damp and wrinkly. $25.

I'm reading "The Last Werewolf." It's like Twilight written by a perpetually tumescent John Updike.

craniac wrote: I'm reading "The Last Werewolf." It's like Twilight written by a perpetually tumescent John Updike.

You had me at "perpetually tumescent."