What Are You Reading?
I can't find the old thread. Where the hell is it?
Here. I'm starting a new one. If a mod wants to move this thread, by goddess, do it!
I'm reading Quentin Crisp - How To Have a Lifestyle and Manners From Heaven.
They're both really funny and chock full of good advice.
I expect to morph into a fabulous gay man any minute now.
I think you've always been a fabulous gay man. Trapped inside the body of a fabulous straight woman.
If I was a gay man, Dana, you'd be my fag hag!
:heartpump
I am reading Believable Hope. Forget who wrote it, it's for a review. It's about addictions treatment, and seems practical, useful, and straightforward, which means it won't catch on.
I just started 1Q84 by Haruki Murakami. It's my first attempt at Murakami, other than looking at this is not porn a couple of times. I don't get what all the fuss was about. It is very long, and I expect I will have to return it to the library long before I am finished with it.
Doctor Who and the Seeds of Doom keeps trying to distract me from the Murakami.
And I have some more Quiller novels to get through.
Working seriously cuts into my reading time.
I'm a little ways into the pop history Warriors of God about Richard v Saladin. Interesting picture of Richard and Philips relationship. I may have to read some of his source material after.
"Characteristics of the Armed Individual" by The United States Secret Service
A short, 6 page pdf. Pretty common sense stuff.
Dhalgren, by Samuel R. Delany. Very difficult reading. Interesting at times, but I'm not sure I'd recommend it.
I also reread the
Lucifer series by Mike Carey, which the new TV show is (extremely loosely) based on. Excellent series, and a fun TV show, but they have very little to do with each other.
I've seen a couple episodes of "Lucifer". Not the worst thing on tv.
I particularly like the interaction of Lucifer and his therapist, who is just smoking hot in an authority-figure kinda way.
Inifinite Jest.
I want to have sex with this book. Is the text self-indulgent? Oh yes, incredibly so. But it's so good, I'm just like, "Yes, please be self-indulgent again. I want to watch you be self-indulgent all day." I mean God, the metaphors. The metaphors!
It's not for everyone. But holy shit, is it for me.
The Sandman- Neil Gaiman
One Touch at a Time, Psychological Processes in Fencing - Aladar Kogler PhD
The Peripheral - William Gibson
I have given up ever having time to read a book so try to find interesting short reads in the blogosphere.
Gravedigger's first post reminded me of one of my favorite ones
The Art of Manliness that has a few "situational awareness" posts that I thought were pretty spot on -
here is one in particular.
here is one in particular.
That's a pretty good read.
Just finished "Sniper Elite" by Scott McEwen & Thomas Koloniar - Pulpy sandbox sniper stuff. Actually a pretty good/easy read. I read the whole thing, 386 pages, in one session. I don't usually do that. Very hard to put down.
Also, recently read Dean Koontz's "The City", which was pretty good, too.
Next up is Shelby Foote's three volume monster, "The Civil War".
Hey Grav, have you ever read any of Stephen Leather's books?
I think you might enjoy his Spider Shepherd series. Shepherd is ex-SAS, injured in Afghanistan before joining the police and becoming a member of an elite undercover unit.
http://stephenleatherbooks.com/dan-shepherd/
First one is called Hard Landing
The first book in the bestselling Dan 'Spider' Shepherd series.
Dan 'Spider' Shepherd is used to putting his life on the line. Working for an elite undercover squad he has lied, cheated and conned in order to bring Britain's most wanted criminals to justice.
But when a powerful drugs baron starts to kill off witnesses to his crimes, Shepherd is given his most dangerous assignment yet. He has to go undercover in a top security prison, a world where one wrong move will mean certain death.
As Shepherd gambles everything to move in on his quarry, he soon realises that the man he is hunting is even more dangerous than the police realise. And that he is capable of striking outside the prison walls and hitting Shepherd where it hurts most
They're very consumable books, but with a nice edge to them.
Some autism book by this chick named .... as soon as I clear the shelf space. :)
I started reading it briefly at work and forgot to put it in my bag to bring home with me tonight. Grr. It's good so far. Clodfobble's brain works on paper too.
Hey glatt, you wanna take her name out of that post?
Just finished "Sniper Elite" by Scott McEwen & Thomas Koloniar...
Actually, that should read "Sniper Elite: One Way Trip".
Thanks for the suggestion, Dana. I'll try to give him a look.
I don't ordinarily read military-themed novels. Popdigr picked that one up for me on the supercheap. Same with the
Tom Clancy book "Threat Vector", which was a decent read, as those types of books go.
Reading some book by some chick from Texas.
I've been re-engaging with military history - thoroughly enjoying The Armies of Wellington, by Philip Hawthornthwaite. I dipped in and out of it during my studies, but now I'm reading it cover to cover. He has a really nice engaging style of writing, and it's so well researched. I particularly like the chapters on the rank and file.
Just finished Once upon A river by Bonnie Jo Campbell. A Michigan author from Kalamazoo. I got in to her when I read Q Road -a random shelf pick at the library. It's not action/adventure. But it was pretty hard to put down because it flows..... and the lifestyle to norm but so alien to a chick from Manchester
I read a book years ago that was a collection stories of women living on the Canadian frontier of Alberta and Saskatchewan. Occasional big happenings but mostly the trials and tribulations of everyday life on the prairie. Adding children, changing seasons, things we don't think about or didn't realize they faced. As it's been over 30 years and I bought it at a stop in Saskatchewan, I have no idea what the title was.
Ooh, I think I've found it. The Pioneer Years, 1895 1914: Memories Of Settlers Who Opened The West by Barry Broadfoot
Also there's a pdf online by Broadfoot.elvis costello's autobiography
Hamilton - Chernow
Need to get on Clod's book as well but for some reason its still at work. I guess I'm scared it'll be a bit of a bus-man's holiday.
Next up is Shelby Foote's three volume monster, "The Civil War".
I can't seem to actually start this one. I'm afraid I won't like it, and then it'll just become a chore. A 2400 page chore.:thepain:
Yeah, I know the feeling. I have a book right now that I really, really want to quit, but it is just so hard for me to quit a book. I keep telling myself there's only a few hours left, but it keeps getting worse and worse...
Yeah, I know the feeling. I have a book right now that I really, really want to quit, but it is just so hard for me to quit a book. I keep telling myself there's only a few hours left, but it keeps getting worse and worse...
do it! It's so freeing and gets easier every time. this is a lesson I have only learned in the last ten years.
I'm reading Send In the Idiots -stories from the other side of Autism by Kamran Nazeer. I've had it out of the library for nearly a year -since before Fobble's book was published, but I think that gave me the kick up the ass to actually read it. It's kind of interesting. I'll finish it. but I really really really need something good and absorbing and completely mindless to read next
I've come to the end of the Hellequin Chronicles! Or, to the end of what's been published. There's another due out in September.
You know when a book, or series of books gets you so hooked, you're basically wandering around with it permanently in your brain? Yep. that's how this was. Soooo good.
Best urban fantasy I've read so far - well, top three anyway because the Daniel Faust books and the Thrice Cursed Mage books were also outstanding. I think though, Hellequin might just pip them to the post though as the most entertaining and consistently awesome.
If you like urban fantasy check them out. They're a little bit different from most. The central character is wonderful and the stories take in all sorts of mythology and history from Arthur and Merlin to Japanese spirits, the Wars of the Roses to the Hundred Years War and Nazi Germany. Fucking outstanding.
"Rimfire (Those Jensen Boys!)" by William W. Johnstone & J.A. Johnstone
Up until a couple of days ago, I was reading City of Mirrors the third and final instalment of The Passage trilogy. A beautifully written apocalyptic tale. It has a scope and lyricism to it that sets it apart from most of the poc fiction out there. I'd been waiting for book three for a couple of years and it did not disappoint!
So then I was casting about for something to catch me - and ended up reading the first instalment of 'Surviving the Evacuation'. I wasn't expecting anything great - figured it would just be another zompoc tale, following the same path as most, but was intrigued because unlike most it is set in the UK, where guns are not a major feature of the landscape and I was curious what difference that would make to the survival of the main character.
It was also free on kindle, so that was a plus :P
Really good read. It's only a short book, so I read it across a couple of nights and a day. Love the main character. Love the way he isn't miraculously transformed into a badass within a few days of the zombie outbreak. It's a lot more thoughtful than a lot of zompoc books. There are no easy survival solutions (he doesn't stumble upon a weapons cache, meet up with a special forces survival expert or any of the other conveniences that tend to occur in these books).
It takes the form of his diary entries, so it has a nicely intimate style. He bgins the apocalypse stuck in his flat, with a broken leg, knowing he has at least 70 days before the cast can come off. The first half of the book has a mounting sense of isolation and claustrophobia, interspersed with what he has gleaned about the way the virus has spread and affected the world at large and Britain as a whole. he was some sort of government advisor before it all went to shit, so his insights are those of an insider and there is a growing sense of mystery around some of the decisions that were made during the early days of the outbreak.
It's well written and very human., The zombies are there, they are the main danger, but the focus is on his survival. Ordinary questions of survival. Water and food being the prime concern.
Really enjoyed the book and will definitely be reading the next!
I
finally started Shelby Foote's monster, 'The Civil War - A Narrative', got it for Xmas.
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In the first paragraph I encountered a problem I thought I might have.
I can't,
cannot, read this book without hearing it in
Shelby Foote's voice.
Which is not entirely a bad thing, as I could listen to the man talk for ages. Love his accent.
How his voice in my head will wear for 3 volumes/~2500 pages remains to be seen.
I bet you have the theme song in your head as well.
Da daaa da da dwaaaaa...
I just finished the teiple trilogy of the Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb,books you can't see on the picture I posted yesterday as I read them on my kindle.
I like that kind of fantasy. Any suggestions are welcome...