What BOOK(s) are you reading?

Just to clarify, I really enjoyed Hyperion.

engineer Al wrote:

Grudunza wrote: Just finished reading Watership Down with my girls (9 and 7). That's always been a favorite of mine, but this was a particularly great experience over the past few months to share that together with them.

Awesome. I read The Hobbit with my daughter at about that age and it was one of my most cherished experiences. She cried at the end and when I asked her why she said "Because I'm going to miss the characters".

Ah, that's great. That's how I feel, too. I'd forgetten the epilogue of Watership Down that describes Hazel's life after the story events and it totally made me tear up.

We're going to read The Hobbit this summer/fall. We'd watched all of the LOTR films last winter, but I've never read any of the Tolkien books, so I thought we'd get a jump this time and read the Hobbit book before seeing the new films. I'm kind of ambivalent about that, though, because a lot of times I think it's actually better to see the film first, because the book is always better... you might as well like the film and then like the book better, as opposed to liking the book and maybe being disappointed by the film. But so many people had the experience with LOTR of being able to see how the books came to life for them in the films (and whether they matched their own visions or expectations), so I'd like to have that with The Hobbit.

Grudunza wrote: I'm kind of ambivalent about that, though, because a lot of times I think it's actually better to see the film first, because the book is always better...

I would have to agree. I finished reading Fellowship 3 hours before I saw the movie. It negatively impacted my feeling about the movie. Granted, I wasn't too impressed with the book(s) in the first place, so the movie just amplified the problem.

As much as I love the LotR movies, they really have a different tone from the books. The books are far more in the classical epic style, while the movies are straightforward adventure. That's a totally valid way to film them (and probably the only watchable way), but it does shade expectations of people reading the books after seeing the movie. And vice versa for that matter.

Just finished The Sorceror's House by Gene Wolfe. I really love the way he writes. He's weak on plot (and tying up loose ends) sometimes, and this one is no exception. But for me, the style and flow of his writing more than make up.

His Shadow of the Torturer series, and Book of the New Sun series are both in my all time faves.

Geoff

This is killing me. This is my second shot at Team of Rivals which everyone including the Pulitzer Committee has told me is a must-read. The first time I went with a dead-tree version and just couldn't give a damn about Salmon P. Chase's frikking vegetable garden (or how gracefully his daughter sat her ass down on a chair) and gave up reading.

Two years later I'm still being told it's a must-read so I got the audio edition out of the library and am feeling actual pain behind the eyes listening to the same feel-goody-goody human-interest-bullshit-minutial-schlock-oh-the-drama-Bob-Costas-up-close-interview crap that is required for all history writing now. Honestly, how important is the condition of Edwin Stanton's marigolds to . . . anything, ever, anywhere? It's like reading an 800 page edition of Soap Opera Digest without the pictures. Where the hell was the editor?

Can someone please tell me how many CDs I have to skip to get to anything of import in this human interest piece? Presumably they'll talk about the war at some point? I've been informed of who got Andrew Jackson's wife's wedding ring when he died (and God knows I was losing sleep over THAT for the last four decades) but as best I can tell the Republican Convention of 1860 and the election that follows are still 100 pages away.

I swear to God this woman was paid by the word.

S.

I am a little more than half way through Jonathen Franzen's The Corrections. A complete cast of unsympathetic characters would probably drive some readers crazy, but I find them strangely endearing and interesting. I'm sure if I met them in real life, I would want to punch them.

I'm also a little more than half way through listening to Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. I thought I read this years ago, and may have, but the majority of the details seem completely new to me. It is interesting, but I think this may be a case of the movie being better than the book (something that may be common with Philip K Dick, as I enjoyed Minority Report the movie better than the book).

I liked THE CORRECTIONS and TEAM OF RIVALS both. Good reads there.

I went on a Riemann Hypothesis kick and re-read Derbyshire's PRIME OBSESSION along with STALKING THE RIEMANN HYPOTHESIS. The former is better written for those with a math degree, but I am frustrated to enjoy Derbyshire, who is a racist asshole.

I am reading Perrotta's THE ABSTINENCE TEACHER and also checked out Wolfe's LITANY OF THE LONG SUN. I enjoyed the first two in that Torturer series, but can't find the latter pair.

Im reading The Way of Shadows by Brent Weeks. It's a pretty good 'mature' fantasy story set from the perspective of a trainee assassin. It's the first in a trilogy and a pretty long book, so I will see how it goes regarding reading the rest of the trilogy.

Loading up the Kindle app for the trip to UK and US with interesting stuff to keep me mentally occupied.

I was ready to catch a plane home from Vegas and I didn't have anything to read so I picked up Abraham Lincoln: Vampire Hunter. It's total crap but it's also kind of fun for an Americatrash - History buff like myself. I heard the movie was pretty bad so I'll wait to watch it at home. Has anyone wasted $10 to see it in the theater.

So in anticipation of the release of Android:Netrunner I decided to get my fill of cyberpunk. I wanted to reread the classic of the genre so I started out with William Gibson's Neuromancer. It's still as awesome as it was when I was 14, I'll be working my way through the rest of the sprawl trilogy soon enough.

I also read Altered Carbon by Richard Morgan. This book is a pretty stock hard boiled detective novel (a genre which I love) set in a cyberpunk universe but it was entertaining and clever enough for me to pick up the other two novels in the series. I could do with less descriptive/graphic sex scenes but maybe I'm just a prude... I really do think that some authors underestimate the power of a good "fade to black" (I'm looking at you Mr. Martin). At least in this book the scenes served some world building purpose.

Vurt by Jeff Noon also made it onto my list. Holy shit is this book terrible. It seems like it's been written by a man who is trying far too hard to be cool. The characters are half baked and unlikable and the whole incest angle seems like it was just thrown in for the sake of shock value. It was a terrible read and I'm not sure why it won any awards. Avoid at all costs.

Never Let Me Go. Which is one of the most depressing things I've ever read.

Scattershot of books and thoughts:

- Redshirts- Scalzi (pretty clever take on the expendable characters in a Star Trek-like universe)(obligatory Wil Wheaton reference #1)

- Ready Player One (audiobook read by Wil Wheaton) eh. Wheaton's reading was very stilted an awkward, main character's extensive knowledge of 80's movies and videogames seemed highly unrealistic, I kinda got sick of all the cute "nerd culture" references (obligatory Wil Wheaton reference #2 & #3)

- The Book of Mormon (interesting bedside read)

- Joe Golem and the Drowning City -Mignola/Golden (just three chapters in, very Mignola-esque in terms of odd characters)

Been reading the Dresden Files novels. I know I'm a bit late to the party but for those who've never heard of them the books are fun reads. Imagine Dirty Harry Potter and you get the idea. No, not that idea.

Green Lantern wrote: Been reading the Dresden Files novels. I know I'm a bit late to the party but for those who've never heard of them the books are fun reads. Imagine Dirty Harry Potter and you get the idea. No, not that idea.

Wait, I still have two ideas: "Dirty Harry" + "Harry Potter" or "Dirty" + "Harry Potter"?

I have been reading Twilight of the Elites. Good stuff, but ugh, makes you sad for the US. We're pretty much screwed. Thanks, elites! P.s. if you're an elite, give me some money.

Read The New Hate. Non-fiction discussion of where all the craziness is coming from.

I am current through V7 on Walking Dead Omnibuses too.