You know how sometimes you finish a book just to have it finished?
Yeah.
Yeah.
"What are you reading?" thread.
- Thread starter HoboNinja
- Start date
I read Ellen Degeneres' first book "My Point... And I Do Have One." I adore Ellen, but this book was awful. She'd go on weird tangents about a whole lot of nothing, and it wasn't even that funny. Super disappointed, but just about every review says the books get better, so it's good to start with her first and move on from there. I'll probably give the others a shot.
Just finished up "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" which was a fun little book. Short cases and enough story to go along with it. I might read another one or two, but probably not the entire series.
Just finished up "The No. 1 Ladies' Detective Agency" which was a fun little book. Short cases and enough story to go along with it. I might read another one or two, but probably not the entire series.
Dammit, that's sitting on my Kindle right now.
On the bright side, it fell within my "never pay more that $2 for a Kindle book unless it was written by a Halforumite" policy, so I guess I'm not feeling too burned.
That was the Ellen book. It was SO BAD. So unexpectedly bad. But I had to finish it. Thankfully a super quick read, but made slower by lack of funny.
Yes, which I was looking forward to, as he could nail the main character's personality. I'll have to see from reviews. Maybe it'll play out better as a movie, or maybe they'll change some things.
I'm coming to realize that while I love Neil Gaiman's books, I tend to dislike the books he likes. I bought it on his rec, probably during the same $1.99 sale as you did, which is not bad. I've paid more for worse books. But I'd still rate it as 3 stars.
Hah! I bought it for the same reason!
One for the Money
It was okay. It's fun, quirky, and a light read. Kind of like a fun popcorn flick.
It was okay. It's fun, quirky, and a light read. Kind of like a fun popcorn flick.
"The Long War" by Pratchett and Baxter.
...I just, now, looking it up on Wiki, found out this is part two of a series. Checked the cover of the book - literally nowhere is there any mention of antoher book before this one. Does explain why some introductions went by so fast, but it's perfectly readable without the first one, apparently
Anyway, quite a fun romp so far.
...I just, now, looking it up on Wiki, found out this is part two of a series. Checked the cover of the book - literally nowhere is there any mention of antoher book before this one. Does explain why some introductions went by so fast, but it's perfectly readable without the first one, apparently
Anyway, quite a fun romp so far.
I would have to look it up, but there is going to be a third book in the series, The Long Mars, coming out later this year. I have Long War sitting beside me to read, but haven't gotten around to it yet, finishing up The Darksword Trilogy by Weis & Hickman this weekend and probably starting Cyador's Heirs by LE Modesitt, Jr."The Long War" by Pratchett and Baxter.
...I just, now, looking it up on Wiki, found out this is part two of a series. Checked the cover of the book - literally nowhere is there any mention of antoher book before this one. Does explain why some introductions went by so fast, but it's perfectly readable without the first one, apparently
Anyway, quite a fun romp so far.
My cover does have, at the bottom, under Stephen Baxter's name a blurb "co-authors of the New York Times bestseller The Long Earth. YMMV.
I just started a book called Far from the Tree: Parents, Children and the Search for Identity by Andrew Solomon. It's nonfiction and close to 1000 pages long. It deals with families, acceptance, diversity, and coping with differences. I've only gotten to page 19 so far, but it's already interesting.
I also bought Tolkien's translation of Beowulf.
I also bought Tolkien's translation of Beowulf.
Wrapping up Book 5 of "The First Law" books..... what a swerve only R.R Martin can wish he was able to pull off this far into a book series. Thank you @HowDroll for recommending me this series!
Death? It's everywhere. A bunch of minor characters and some major characters biting the dust. Never seen so many people being sent back to the mud. It's not as tear inducing as Book 4 but hell... beautiful written, solid entertainment. Can't have an epic story every time can we?
It's a slight less good compared to the rest but I ain't worried.
Book 6 awaits me and I heard it's good... and Book 7 is coming out next month.
Suck it Martin!!!
Death? It's everywhere. A bunch of minor characters and some major characters biting the dust. Never seen so many people being sent back to the mud. It's not as tear inducing as Book 4 but hell... beautiful written, solid entertainment. Can't have an epic story every time can we?
It's a slight less good compared to the rest but I ain't worried.
Book 6 awaits me and I heard it's good... and Book 7 is coming out next month.
Suck it Martin!!!
*yawn* Jay, is it impossible for you to like something without trying to make something else be "wrong", "worse", or "bad"? It's something I've noticed in your movie posts, book posts, anything. The First Law books are great, I've read them, and I prefer ASoIaF. Personally. I might actually recommend the First law to other people sooner, though it'd depend on who. But I don't feel the need to make someone else feel "their" movie or book is crap just so I can blow my own favorite's horn.
Yes
I just reached book 13 of the Dresden Files audio books and to my unfortunate surprise found that James Marsters didn't provide the narration for this one.
John Glover may be a very capable voice talent but having been with James Marsters for the last 12 books it isn't a welcome change :\
John Glover may be a very capable voice talent but having been with James Marsters for the last 12 books it isn't a welcome change :\
Supposedly it was just a scheduling difficulty - James Marsters did come back to narrate books 14 & 15. And John Glover does do a fantastic job, it's difficult to imagine anyone doing a better job of replacing Marsters. But, yeah, having anyone other than Marsters narrate Dresden just sounds wrong.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I don't usually care for episodic books, but this one works. It's as much unraveling a hidden world as it is about the main character growing up.
He explicitly wanted to make a book full of stories that would resonate with people of different age groups. That's why each story becomes more complex and why they tackle different subject matter: As the main character grows up, his world becomes more complex until he becomes an adult and nothing can ever be like it was.
I wasn't sure how well it would work from hearing about it, but it definitely does.
As I was reading at the bus stop earlier, I wondered how kids would take to this type of book because of that. I never had a problem reading any age, though the adult books I read as a kid led me to believe that adults were really bitchy (protagonists tending to be guys in their 40s who seemed to hate life--i.e. the authors). Gaiman writes all ages quite well though, and with diverse personalities.
Just finished reading the first The First Law Trilogy thanks to the recommendation of @Jay ( by extension @HowDroll)
Say one thing for Halforums Jay, say he recommends good books.
EDIT: Also because I was refraining from looking up people's artistic interpretations of the characters till I finished the trilogy I just found out today that they have a free online comic book version of the novels @ www.firstlawcomic.com
Say one thing for Halforums Jay, say he recommends good books.
EDIT: Also because I was refraining from looking up people's artistic interpretations of the characters till I finished the trilogy I just found out today that they have a free online comic book version of the novels @ www.firstlawcomic.com
Finished The Graveyard Book today. Last chapter was a little weak, but that's nitpicking when the rest of the book was a lot of fun and interesting ideas.
Guess next I'll start The First Law.
Guess next I'll start The First Law.
Which were your favorites?
Mine from the original trilogy were :
Glotka : Loved his sense of humor, his way of thinking. EXCEPTIONAL character.
Logan/Nine Fingers : Something about him truly made me like him. He calls it as it is and he is something... special.
I think the problem with the last chapter is that it's not about conveying the style of a young adult book... it's about wrapping things up. It very much reads like the first chapter of an adult fantasy novel, which makes it weak because you know there isn't any more to the story after this.
Maybe? For a finale and what it seemed to be trying to say, it felt rushed.
I think my favourite all around was Glokta, the style of writing with all the importance on the little details on life, and his contradictory character of being powerful and powerless, ruthless and compassionate all at the same time.
Logen chapters were always a joy to read. He is always so contently resigned.
Though I think I may have liked West as a character a slight more than Logen. The writing style didn't have as much umph but I loved his well rounded nature with that stiff upper lift attitude.
To me Ferro was the weakest chapters but even they were still fun to read, really only last place amongst champion arcs.
West gets better... and better... ;(
I really like him and I agree on Ferro bit she gets better as... Events happen.
Jezel as well to the point in book 3 where you get a climax equivalent to the best I've read in other books.
Can't ignore Bayaz as well.... That magi.... Is something else.
I'm currently reading the 6th book and it's the weakest of all so far. Not Martin book 4 awful but not great... However the 7th book is coming out in a month with amazing reviews.
Also Martin has reviewed all these books... So it makes me wonder between reading other people books, hitting conventions, blogging about the jets if book 6 will ever see the light of day...... Almost 4 years now....
I look forward to seeing you guys moving forward in this new book series.
About halfway in Red Country.... and it's definitely not my cup of tea.
Red Country is the 6th book of the world of "The First Law". The first 3 books are set in an epic trilogy that are amongst the best books I've ever read. The next 4 books are stand-alone.
"Best Served Cold" is the first stand-alone and it's just as exceptional as the trilogy... with the last 1/4 of the book involving several swerves.
"The Heroes" is slightly less good, set during a 3 day battle in the North that has many...many... protagonists die.. all in all I enjoyed it.
Red Country is set in Styria... in bum fuck nowhere with a storyline that closely resembles old school Americana Westerns to the point even the characters speak somewhat the same way. Not my cup of tea but I'm hoping the 2nd half of the book gets better. Quickly.
Half a King, the 7th book and the last of the stand-alone books is releasing next month. Set in a viking location that has never been covered previously, it'll be interesting how it'll develop. Reviews for the book are very good after a luke-warm reception of Red Country.
The Author has stated after this release and following tour... he'll be taking some time off... and plans to come back next year to start writing a new epic trilogy of the First Law world that will involve... whoever is left from the main protagonists and the war between the Union and Gurkhul.
Red Country is the 6th book of the world of "The First Law". The first 3 books are set in an epic trilogy that are amongst the best books I've ever read. The next 4 books are stand-alone.
"Best Served Cold" is the first stand-alone and it's just as exceptional as the trilogy... with the last 1/4 of the book involving several swerves.
"The Heroes" is slightly less good, set during a 3 day battle in the North that has many...many... protagonists die.. all in all I enjoyed it.
Red Country is set in Styria... in bum fuck nowhere with a storyline that closely resembles old school Americana Westerns to the point even the characters speak somewhat the same way. Not my cup of tea but I'm hoping the 2nd half of the book gets better. Quickly.
Half a King, the 7th book and the last of the stand-alone books is releasing next month. Set in a viking location that has never been covered previously, it'll be interesting how it'll develop. Reviews for the book are very good after a luke-warm reception of Red Country.
The Author has stated after this release and following tour... he'll be taking some time off... and plans to come back next year to start writing a new epic trilogy of the First Law world that will involve... whoever is left from the main protagonists and the war between the Union and Gurkhul.
Reading The Hobbit for the first time! After this, I'm going to give LotR another shot. Why didn't I get through it the first time? I tried to read it years ago, but there was so much history/back story to get through before the actual story started that I was bored out of my mind. A couple friends said I could skip ahead until it got interesting, but I didn't want to skip anything.
I know, right? Now, considering the length of time between other book releases, it should only be another two to three years before the next one.
Who sees that actually happening?
Eh. You can skip ahead to the story bits in LOTR, but it strikes me as fairly useless. Take away the language and descriptions, and what you're left with is slowy-told utterly-generic fantasy fare. Yes, it's generic because all the rest is (to a more or lesser extent) copied from here, but still. If you're reading it for the thrilling story and the plot twists, it's been done better, in my opinion.