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[Maklershed]

I hope I'm not stepping on any toes here but apparently ItAintEasyBeingCheesy has been banned and we need a new thread so here it is. If you want me to add/change anything to the OP let me know. Also, if someone could clue me in on the goings on with the book club please do because I know nothing about it

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Shelved Threads

What are you reading (June 2010)
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What are you reading? (February 2010)
What are you reading? (January 2010)
What are you reading? (December 09)
What Are You Reading (November '09)
What are you reading? (October 09)
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If you have some good links post them and i will put them in.


!!BOOK CLUB!!

The Book Club book is :

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

"The Big Short" tells a story of spectacular, epic folly. It has taken the world's greatest financial meltdown to bring Michael Lewis back to the subject that made him famous. His international bestseller "Liar's Poker" exposed the greed and carnage of the City and Wall Street in the 1980s; he wrote it as a cautionary tale, but people seem to have read it as a how-to guide. Now, he wants to settle accounts. In this visceral tour to the heart of the financial system, Michael Lewis takes us around the globe and back decades to trace the origins of the current crisis. He meets the people who saw it coming, the people who were asleep at the wheel and the people who were actively driving us all of cliff. How could we have all been so deluded for quite so long? Where did it all start? Was it systemic? Was it avoidable? And who the hell can we blame? Michael Lewis has the answers. No one is better qualified to get to the heart of this labyrinthine story. And no one can make it such an enjoyable ride along the way.

 

[eznark]

Well done! I'm finishing up The First Law trilogy. I've got about half of Last Argument of Kings left and my enthusiasm meter is dropping. The issue in the North just wrapped about (I assume) and it was so abrupt and Clif-notey that I finally sort of reflected on everything that had happened up to that point and realized that, well, pretty much everything in the trilogy has been abrupt and Clif-notey. There is now half a book to reconcile the entire war of the Magi as well as the numerous sub-plots. I imagine he will go about it in the same bullet-point feeling style he has done everything else in, but we'll see.

After that, it's on to Overton Window and I am sure you're all excited to see what I think about Beck's dive into fiction! Should take about two days to read that tripe and then I'm hopefully going to start American Rust.

 

[Maklershed]

I just started Feed yesterday ...

 

[Y-Z]

Part 2 of the millenium trilogy, can't stop reading.

 

[CitizenCope]

"When The Game Was Ours"
Book about Larry Bird and Magic Johnson. Decent enough, nothing spectacular.
Looking forward to reading "Nothing to Envy" Heard about it here on Gaf.
Can no longer read fiction books. Life stories just blow me away and make me think.

 

[Lafiel]

Interesting, the first 40 pages sorta read like my own imagination. Pretty cool.:lol

 

[zoku88]

I started reading the Republic.

 

[ConfusedMan09]

Finally getting round to reading this. Heard good things about it...

 

[Cerebral Assassin]

The Book Club book is :

The Big Short: Inside the Doomsday Machine

"The Big Short" tells a story of spectacular, epic folly. It has taken the world's greatest financial meltdown to bring Michael Lewis back to the subject that made him famous. His international bestseller "Liar's Poker" exposed the greed and carnage of the City and Wall Street in the 1980s; he wrote it as a cautionary tale, but people seem to have read it as a how-to guide. Now, he wants to settle accounts. In this visceral tour to the heart of the financial system, Michael Lewis takes us around the globe and back decades to trace the origins of the current crisis. He meets the people who saw it coming, the people who were asleep at the wheel and the people who were actively driving us all of cliff. How could we have all been so deluded for quite so long? Where did it all start? Was it systemic? Was it avoidable? And who the hell can we blame? Michael Lewis has the answers. No one is better qualified to get to the heart of this labyrinthine story. And no one can make it such an enjoyable ride along the way.

 

[Undeux]

Those of you that have read Brothers Karamazov - I'm about 80 pages in and just wondering if it picks up or if I should read it later, when I've got a little more patience. I almost gave up during the long theological discussion, so I'm mostly wondering if that's a consistent thing in the book. I like the character drama, but I'm finding myself glazing over the philosophical elements.

 

[Helmholtz]

 

[Dan]

Those of you that have read Brothers Karamazov - I'm about 80 pages in and just wondering if it picks up or if I should read it later, when I've got a little more patience. I almost gave up during the long theological discussion, so I'm mostly wondering if that's a consistent thing in the book. I like the character drama, but I'm finding myself glazing over the philosophical elements.

I got halfway through and then took a trip and never got back into it It's been several years, but I recall it getting more compelling...

 

[BobsRevenge]

Any other Zola fans here? It seems like every other book I read is written by him. Germinal is the best book I've ever read.

 

[Hasan]

Guns, Germs and Steel

 

[thomaser]

Infinite Jest by David Foster Wallace. Just started it. If you haven't read it, perhaps Infinite Summer will motivate you?

 

[j_k_redtail]

In Cold Blood, by Truman Capote.

 

[Angst]

Started on Abercrombie's The First Law trilogy, but the first book didn't do anything for me, so I started on:

It's soooo good! Best fantasy I've read since completing ASOIF.

Will finish up with Desert Spear and then start on:

 

[eznark]

Angst, I was 100% opposite on the two fantasy books you mention. Out of curiosity, what made you like one over the other?

 

[Kuraudo]

Just finished this:

Picked it up when it came out in hardcover, but only got around to reading it now. It's a bit of a mess of a Discworld novel, with a plot that's all over the place and some really cool elements that aren't fully explored. It's still good though, with some great new characters and a look at the lower classes of Ankh-Morpork. If you've read the entire series up to this point there's no reason you won't enjoy this one. If you haven't, then there's at least twenty better books you should read first.

Now reading:

Only a third of the way in, but incredible so far.

Also have this to read:

Someone told me it was the Stand with vampires and I couldn't resist. Looking forward to getting into it.

 

[-Kees-]

 

[Freeza Under The Shower]

 

[jonremedy]

Can anyone recommend some Hard SF? My favorite genre, and I'm struggling trying to find interesting stuff to read.

 

[Angst]

Angst, I was 100% opposite on the two fantasy books you mention. Out of curiosity, what made you like one over the other?

For me Abercromie's prose is similar to Dan Brown - very direct, action-filled and to the point all the time. And I can't stand that kind of writing. There where some things that interested me though and I'll go back to book two after I've finished the Desert Spear.

The Warded (Painted) Man was (for me) written in a much better and gripping prose. The world is more interesting and the characters as well. The humans struggle against the corelings really interested me, whereas (at least in the first book) nothing really interesting happened. To me there was nothing at the end of book one that made me think about what would happen next.

But, as I said, I will go back to Abercrombie down the road. I have a feeling that it will get more interesting and I'm willing to give it a try.

 

[Slightly Live]

 

[X26]

FINISHED:
Foundation and I, Robot. Both terrific books, love Asimov's creativity

STARTING:
The Blade Itself - haven't read any good fantasy in awhile and this gets a lot of attention in these threads so why not
Foundation and Empire

 

[eznark]

For me Abercromie's prose is similar to Dan Brown - very direct, action-filled and to the point all the time. And I can't stand that kind of writing. There where some things that interested me though and I'll go back to book two after I've finished the Desert Spear.

The Warded (Painted) Man was (for me) written in a much better and gripping prose. The world is more interesting and the characters as well. The humans struggle against the corelings really interested me, whereas (at least in the first book) nothing really interesting happened. To me there was nothing at the end of book one that made me think about what would happen next.

But, as I said, I will go back to Abercrombie down the road. I have a feeling that it will get more interesting and I'm willing to give it a try.

I think that's a really great way to put it. Like Brown, it seems written to be turned into a movie. The details are definitely sparse in [most]spots. Book 2 was a lot better than the first and if things stay as they are, it'll be the best of the three.

I said it a few months ago when I tried to read The Warded Man. I couldn't get past the sex scenes (well, any scene with a woman) that had to have been written by an immature 10 year old. Everything else was pretty solid though.

I may get laughed out of the thread, but what constitutes "hard" sci-fi?

 

[jonremedy]

I think that's a really great way to put it. Like Brown, it seems written to be turned into a movie. The details are definitely sparse in [most]spots. Book 2 was a lot better than the first and if things stay as they are, it'll be the best of the three.

I said it a few months ago when I tried to read The Warded Man. I couldn't get past the sex scenes (well, any scene with a woman) that had to have been written by an immature 10 year old. Everything else was pretty solid though.

I may get laughed out of the thread, but what constitutes "hard" sci-fi?

Hard SF is basically very realistically portrayed science fiction. None of that 5 minutes in hyperspace to reach the other side of the galaxy-stuff. Less pew-pew, more kaboom.

 

[Mr. Miyato]

On the topic of the book club I can recommend another book that I finished a few weeks ago:

Liaquat Ahamed - Lords of Finance

Lords of Finance brings the last great financial meltdown to life by focusing on the four most important bankers in the world during 1929, foregrounding the human drama as the boom of the 1920s collapses into the Great Depression. The potentially baffling economic history is buoyed by Liaquat Ahamed's flair for creating a compelling narrative from intimate details, using letters exchanged by the men to show how friendships and animosities provided the personal backdrop to otherwise abstract events. Ahamed, an investment manager, brings an insider's shrewdness to the proceedings, concluding that the collapse was caused not by mysterious forces but, rather, by the intellectual failures of those at the helm.

Right now I'm still working my way through

 

[eznark]

Lords of Finance is indeed an excellent read

 

[Salazar]

Hume and Habermas for work. Also A.D. Nuttall's book on the position of scholars in the popular imagination: 'Dead From the Waist Down'.

Lots of Cerebus for pleasure.

 

[Angst]

Hard SF is basically very realistically portrayed science fiction. None of that 5 minutes in hyperspace to reach the other side of the galaxy-stuff. Less pew-pew, more kaboom.

I presume you've already read Simmons' Hyperion saga? If that's considered hard sci-fi that is.

 

[Father_Mike]

 

[Guzim]

Awful. Easily Ellis' worst book, and the biggest disappointment ever.

 

[jonremedy]

I presume you've already read Simmons' Hyperion saga? If that's considered hard sci-fi that is.

Have not read, but I see that wikipedia considers it Soft SF or Space Opera, so I don't think it's for me. Thanks for the recommendation though

 

[Angst]

Have not read, but I see that wikipedia considers it Soft SF or Space Opera, so I don't think it's for me. Thanks for the recommendation though

yeah, I guess that's true. It doesn't dwell on technicalities and such if that's what you're after. On the other hand it's quite 'realistic' regarding space travels and such.

Looking at wikipedia I realize I've read Read Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson and quite enjoyed it. Never knew it was a trilogy though. Might have to download them later on. :lol

So what would be considered good hard sci-fi, jonremedy?

Wikipedia entry they mention the representative works in hard sci-fi.

 

[eznark]

So what would be considered good hard sci-fi, jonremedy?

 

[jonremedy]

So what would be considered good hard sci-fi, jonremedy?

Well, I just read the Takeshi Kovacs-series by Richard K. Morgan which I found very good, at least the first novel.

There's also stuff like Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, which I felt was kinda out there, with regards to Hard SF, but still enjoyable.

Guess it depends on how Hard you want your SF to be. Hard SF for me is a realistic settings with consistent science and application of it. Also in regards to causality, relativity and Faster-Than-Light-travel. See Forever War.

 

[zero margin]

A storm of swords, yeah you've all seen the cover a time or two I'm sure :lol

 

[Burger]

Really really enjoying it.

 

[shas'la]

Its actually pretty well written and full of lots of politicking and intrigue rather than, "bang bang space marine".

 

[Pink Gorilla]

Well, I just read the Takeshi Kovacs-series by Richard K. Morgan which I found very good, at least the first novel.

There's also stuff like Mote in God's Eye by Larry Niven and Jerry Pournelle, which I felt was kinda out there, with regards to Hard SF, but still enjoyable.

Guess it depends on how Hard you want your SF to be. Hard SF for me is a realistic settings with consistent science and application of it. Also in regards to causality, relativity and Faster-Than-Light-travel. See Forever War.

I would recommend Red Mars by Kim Robinson. Very good "hard" science fiction.

 

[jonremedy]

I would recommend Red Mars by Kim Robinson. Very good "hard" science fiction.

Will give it a go then, thanks

 

[Foob]

just bought this

 

[suffah]

I needed a GRRM fix, so I finished the Night Angels trilogy in 2 weeks.

It was a lot better than I expected. You could tell Brent Weeks is a new author and there's a dramatic step up in writing style by book 3. The world just seems much more fleshed out and his writing is much more crisp.

The story and characters are above average and much like Joe Abercrombie, it has satisfied me until 2012 when Dragons comes out.

 

[_Isaac]

This one.
The Good Man Jesus and the Scoundrel Christ by Philip Pullman

 

[Toby]

Finished:

Loved it. Couldn't put it down for the five days it took me to read it. Can't wait for the next in the series (which should be around in March, right?).

Started:

 

[Tashi]

How's this?

 

[DesertEater]

Im almost done with Haruki Murakami's After Dark.

Half way through Transmetropolitan vol.5 .

Im thinking of reading either the Republic or the Wind-up Bird Chronicle, after I finish After Dark.

 

[Night_Trekker]

I'm about a third of the way through All the Pretty Horses. Gotta finish the Border Trilogy so I can move on to Watchmen. I just don't have any time to read lately.

I'm also going through Berserk slowly, if manga counts.

Im thinking of reading either the Republic or the Wind-up Bird Chronicle, after I finish After Dark.

Wind-Up Bird Chronicle. Do it.

I gotta get some more Murakami. I finished Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World a while back and loved it.

 

[braves01]

just bought this

NYTimes has an article up about this and a brief excerpt which I really liked. How far into it are you, and what do you think?