What are you reading?

Piera

Venturing into my first Brandon Sanderson novel (Mistborn), though I probably won't have time to properly read it until exams are over.

Sylvaria

Been a while since I'm lazy, but last three books I read were god is not great, mein kampf and the hitchhikers guide series. Can always revisit douglas adams, no matter how many times I read that series

Kresslack

Started on the Immortal Instruments series. First book, City of Bones I think. Pretty interesting stuff.

Anatral

Andrzej Sapkowski is being gradually translated into English and, basically, if you like Achaea, you will like his books. Episodic and tangential with an overarching theme and recurring characters all paired with just fabulous, and by times hilarious, writing.

Edit: English fail.

Skye

Kresslack said:

Started on the Immortal Instruments series. First book, City of Bones I think. Pretty interesting stuff.

I liked the premise of the stories, but I didn't read the books. I watched the first movie in a hotel while having food poisoning. I don't know if it was the food poisoning or the fact that at the end of the day it's just a teen romance novel, but I found myself fixating on and being disappointed at the casting choice of the skinny and pasty white boy in a black leather jacket.

Anedhel

@Shirszae I read all of the Aubrey-Maturin series. It's surprising- none of them are particularly noteworthy compared against the others, but honestly, before you know it, you've read like ten books and you're feeling surprisingly positive about having done it. They kind of run away with you, without being super duper exciting!

Katsuragi

I think I've posted here before, but I suppose it's time for an update!

I've been steadily chipping away at the Discworld series (in order of publication) and just finished The Last Hero, which I think is #25. I also have eaten through the Douglas Adams canon - that is, the Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy. I got the Ultimate Guide, which seems to be all of them in one, and read my way through it. I think they're good stories with lots of creative and funny nose-tweaks but ultimately they're overrated in my opinion pls no bully.

I also read through some Stephen King books - The Dead Zone, Joyland, and Night Shift. I started The Black Company but found the violence and edge and DARKNESS to be a bit much to stomach.

Academically I've been going through the Norton Anthology of British Literature volumes D, E, and F. Lots of good things there, both in terms of literature and information. The anthologies are useful outside of the classroom for helping you sound like a snob at parties learn more about the historical and literary context in which many well-loved poems were written as well as giving biographical information about the people who wrote them. I'm going to stop here lest I sound like an advertisement.

Also on the docket is Shakespeare's The Tempest, a few Sherlock Holmes stories, James Joyce's Dubliners and Frankenstein. I haven't much to say on them since, I confess, it's been more of a skim than a deep reading; the focus of the class that I'm reading those for is literary criticism and there's more emphasis on the critical essaysx written about these stories than the stories themselves.

Hurai

This week it is Interpreter of Maladies by Jhumpa Lahiri.

Oceana

Christian Jacq - La tombe maudite. It is set in the Egypt of Ramses II.

Kresslack

Skye said:

Kresslack said:

Started on the Immortal Instruments series. First book, City of Bones I think. Pretty interesting stuff.

I liked the premise of the stories, but I didn't read the books. I watched the first movie in a hotel while having food poisoning. I don't know if it was the food poisoning or the fact that at the end of the day it's just a teen romance novel, but I found myself fixating on and being disappointed at the casting choice of the skinny and pasty white boy in a black leather jacket.

I was made to watch the movie, and you're right, basically it's a softcore teenie romance flick. The books seem a lot different, and are much...gorier, in a lot of senses.

Borivoj

"Legends of the Caucasus" - David Hunt. As the name pretty much implies, it's a collection of folk tales from the Caucasus Mountains.  With categories like "Rustling, Stealing of Animals" and "Warriors, Including Blood Revenge" you really can't go wrong.

Vansittart

Was just popping in to see how the 700 games were going, but then I thought it was time to do A CIVIC SERVICE.

Read Tigerman, by Nick Harkaway.  It's awesome, and I haven't read a better book in forever.

Seftin

Age of Iron - Angus Watson and re-reading the Last Kingdom series - Bernard Cornwell.

Tvistor

Why Orwell Matters is pretty legit, though it's heavy reading, particularly since Hitchens is a lot smarter than the average reader (and even readers a SD above average).

Blujixapug

Pyramid, by David Gibbins. Not good. Boring protagonist, boring dialogue, paragraphs of boring infodump exposition everywhere. Scenes are written such that it's not clear when characters are moving around or what they're doing, making things hard to follow, which IMO is unforgivable if you're writing an action thriller. Bits of action happen here and there, but without any build-up or exciting prose, so it's hard to give a shit that there's a coral snake slitering up someone's sleeve. I read about a quarter, skipped ahead to confirm that it still sucked, and put it down. It's like half-rate Clive Cussler, and Cussler is already kind of low on the the pulpy I'm-not-proud-I'm-reading-this-but-I-can't-put-it-down totem pole. Would not recommend.

The Three Stigmata of Palmer Eldritch, by Philip K Dick. It's interesting so far in a retro-futurist, kind of clinical sci-fi way. But I don't know if I can get through a depressingly bleak dystopia right now.

I really just want the next Dresden Files book. Peace Talks, mid 2016  

Anedhel

Not really the most complex of reads, but I've been re-reading Bill Waterson's tenth anniversary edition of the Essential Calvin and Hobbes. His notes on his artistic process and personal feelings when working on certain strips are really heartwarming and insightful, and I feel very, very happy I'm taking the time to absorb what he has to say on the subject of artistic license and independence.

Jonathin

Dune- again.

Aereidhna

Dreams of Trespass by Fatima Mernissi (started rereading when she became ill recently, was deeply saddened by her passing - her writing is amazing). And Khaled Hosseini's And the Mountains Echoed.

Shirszae

Started reading A Darker Shade of Magic. Seems rather interesting so far. Well-written, at least. Has all the things I liked about Mistborn (Cool magic system, arguably interesting world)  and nothing of what I disliked (It felt more like an RPG rulebook than a novel)

Aereidhna

Pointe by Brandy Colbert (contemporary dark YA). I can't remember what I was thinking when I requested it from the library but it finally came, so I'm reading it! It's pretty good.

Trey

Shirszae said:

Started reading A Darker Shade of Magic. Seems rather interesting so far. Well-written, at least. Has all the things I liked about Mistborn (Cool magic system, arguably interesting world)  and nothing of what I disliked (It felt more like an RPG rulebook than a novel)

If you like interesting magic systems, try The Black Prism (and the continuing books) by Brent Weeks.

Aereidhna

Go Set a Watchman by Harper Lee.

Jovie

How do you like it so far @Aereidhna? I'm waiting for paperback to be available at my local bookstore before I buy but I'm worried it won't live up to TKAMB.

I read The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath which was amazing. I had no idea it was basically an autobiography from her. Very sad.

I just finished reading Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel. It reminded me of a better flowing The Stand. Granted the ending was sort of a cliffhanger. Still really good if you're into those post apocalyptic type of genres.

Deladan

Forums.

Sobriquet

Just picked up "The Man in the High Castle" on the kindle before I start watching the TV version.

Antonius

I started The Girl in the Spider's Web a few days ago. I enjoyed the first three books, but there's something about this one that's just leaving me feeling very underwhelmed. I don't know if it's the different author or just the beginning of the book but I'm finding it hard to care about reading it.

While I figure out what I'm doing with that I've fallen back on my old standby, Harry Potter. I got through the first four books while I was in the US back in September/October, but haven't done much reading since then, so I just started the fifth book last night.

Sobriquet

Antonius said:

I started The Girl in the Spider's Web a few days ago. I enjoyed the first three books, but there's something about this one that's just leaving me feeling very underwhelmed. I don't know if it's the different author or just the beginning of the book but I'm finding it hard to care about reading it.

While I figure out what I'm doing with that I've fallen back on my old standby, Harry Potter. I got through the first four books while I was in the US back in September/October, but haven't done much reading since then, so I just started the fifth book last night.

I know the guys who were technical consultants on that book from a hacking point of view. Would be good to know what you think. It's on my list.

Hurai

I asked for a specific title for Christmas, and my sister surprised me by actually getting the book I asked for!! Phantasies by George MacDonald.

I am so excited! C.S. Lewis mentions MacDonald a lot in his own works. I finally get to read it!

Aereidhna

Jovie said:

How do you like it so far @Aereidhna? I'm waiting for paperback to be available at my local bookstore before I buy but I'm worried it won't live up to TKAMB.

I detested it, but for different reasons than most people. I thought it was fairly well-written and complex in ways that TKAM wasn't - TKAM is very much a southern fable in which morality is neatly tied in a bow, in my opinion, and GSAW goes into the complexities of racism and of character on a much deeper level. (But desperately needed better editing - I can understand why the editor pushed her to pull the TKAM scenes out and make those into a book instead, the writing is beautiful but clunky, and the characterization manages to be complex on issues of race but somewhat flat and one-dimensional in other respects.) It's definitely not a sequel and shouldn't be read as such, but I think it would have been fascinating to read the original book - GSAW with TKAM as flashbacks (as it started). Lee, as always, grasps the culture and setting of southern Alabama perfectly.

Spoilering for a rather long explanation of why I didn't care for it, since it involves spoilers and also frank discussion of some really messed up racist stuff:

That said, I do see the Atticus and Scout of TKAM in Atticus and Jean Louis in GSAW, and both of them are racist, and the book does backflips to try and make their racism seem sympathetic and not awful. Atticus is supposed to be the 'bad' racist, the one who thinks black people are inferior and thus doesn't want them to progress politically because they're not 'fully developed as a race' yet (I feel disgusting just typing that), and Jean Louise is supposed to be the good, well-meaning white person who is disgusted that her daddy is basically involved in the civilized man's Klan (the citizens' council trying to keep the NAACP out of the town). But Jean Louise admits that she doesn't agree with Brown v. Board (the recent Supreme court decision which isn't mentioned by name) because she thinks it violates states' rights, and she also agrees with Atticus that black people are inferior, backwards, and simple, that they are 'incapable of taking on the responsibilities of citizenship' - the only way she differs from Atticus is as she puts it that she doesn't think they are subhuman.

The book goes on to paint Jean Louise as a bigot for being inflexible in her unwillingness to see Atticus's side of things (I'm one of those people who, sorry-not-sorry, doesn't believe all opinions are equal when some opinions are more racist than others so this irked me). It gets a little fucked up when her uncle backhands her for not respecting her father's opinions (because women need to shut up and sit down and listen to racist old white men). And it gets even more fucked up when it tries to paint Atticus as sympathetic because, while he thinks the Klan should be able to do and say whatever they want, at the very least he'd stop them if they did something illegal (because Atticus's only redeeming quality remains that he respects the law). I grew up in a mostly black town in south Georgia about a stone's throw from the Alabama line and I've witnessed almost every permutation of Southern racism, so I find it hard to swallow that Lee essentially tries to say that some racists are better than others. Well-meaning white folks being racist as hell is why racism is still a problem. People standing by quietly and believing that others are inferior and supporting segregation because of 'states' rights' and (in Atticus's case) going out of their way to defend black people in court to prevent them from getting the political attention of the NAACP so that essentially 'the black folks don't rise up' are just as much a part of the problem if not more than the people who go out and burn crosses and lynch because they're larger in number and still voting for the same policies and upholding the same political oppression as the Klan, and are in wholehearted agreement that black people are inferior. There aren't "good racists" and "bad racists," there are just racists.

If the book had indicted both of them rather than trying to exonerate both of them and paint Atticus as the bad, old-fashioned racist and Jean Louise as the well-meaning good white person, I'd probably have loved it, because of the complexity with which it investigates white racism and hypocrisy. But it earnestly argues that both of them have good reasons for their racism and so their racism is understandable and okay and while they think black people are basically childish infants and don't want them to have full equality, at least they wouldn't actually go out and kill black people for sport. I can't get behind that.

I wish they'd respected Harper Lee's wishes in not publishing it. A part of me wishes I hadn't read it - I did so for a book club which I might skip now because it made me so viscerally angry I'm not sure I can have a coherent discussion about it - but at least I can criticize it having read it, I guess.

Anyway, I read Ember in the Ashes by Sabaa Tahir and loved it - I'm really looking forward to the second book in the series. It's a fantasy veeeery loosely based on the Roman Empire. I think I'm going to reread All About Love by bell hooks next. I need to add some books from this threat to my to-read list - it's definitely too weighted to non-fiction this year!

Kiet

I mean, TKAM is basically 'white people are actually the cure for racism guys' so it's not entirely surprising.