Books

[deeyoukayeee]

BTW, started it a few days in because I was reading Devolution by Max Brooks. Also a brilliant book.

Such a good story. Don’t think I would read it if I was staying in Yosemite though. I wouldn’t have slept a wink.

Dude, I'm fucking Kate. I was sharpening my walking stick every night, iklwa-style. Bring on the Bigfeet! Actually, it was a lot more comforting being on the fourth floor with 5,000 other easier-to-reach victims strewn about in tents for miles around.

 

[deeyoukayeee]

Still can't get over how good The Fall of Giants is. Ken Follett has my ideal writing style.

It also helps that this is pretty much my favorite genre of novel: social realism with a large cast of characters, sweeping historical events, long time frame.

I have such mixed feelings about this. My mother loved Follett, but she was definitely an 'airport novel' reader so I also discounted him. But you are generally right, so I have to take this very seriously, especially given your enthusiasm. But a quick perusal of his works suggest dozens of 900 page tomes that would keep me wrapped up for many years. WTF do I do?

The fact we have a finite lifetime is most egregiously felt by those who read a lot. I'll be bored of travel, sports, food, sex, etc. in 20-30 years, but my Amazon queue will have 782 books in it I am dying to read when I actually die.

 

[rome8180]

Yes, but if you discover you like him you know you'll always have something you enjoy reading.

 

[rome8180]

His other trilogy (the one with Pillars of the Earth) is more popular than this one. But I'm glad I started with this one. Something about reading a book set in the 12th century is off-putting to me. This one is early 20th century, which I find way more relatable. If I'm going to read about characters 800 years ago, I'd rather read fantasy. That said, I'm sure it's great.

 

[deepdarkblue]

Still can't get over how good The Fall of Giants is. Ken Follett has my ideal writing style.

It also helps that this is pretty much my favorite genre of novel: social realism with a large cast of characters, sweeping historical events, long time frame.

I have such mixed feelings about this. My mother loved Follett, but she was definitely an 'airport novel' reader so I also discounted him. But you are generally right, so I have to take this very seriously, especially given your enthusiasm. But a quick perusal of his works suggest dozens of 900 page tomes that would keep me wrapped up for many years. WTF do I do?

The fact we have a finite lifetime is most egregiously felt by those who read a lot. I'll be bored of travel, sports, food, sex, etc. in 20-30 years, but my Amazon queue will have 782 books in it I am dying to read when I actually die.

On the plus side, you'll have lots of stuff to read in the nursing home. Shuffleboard and water aerobics will only kill so many hours a week.

 

[deepdarkblue]

Pre-ordered the Bob Woodward book today. He earned that money.

 

[rome8180]

Wish I had more time to read. I have 4-10 books in some stage of completion. I have dozens more in my to-read pile. And a bunch in my Amazon cart.

The third book of Joe Abercrombie's latest trilogy dropped, and I haven't even read the first one. I loved The First Law and the two standalone books in the same universe I've read. So I'm pretty sure I'll love this trilogy too.

 

[torontoduke]

Just finished John Lurie's memoirs. Continuing my weird obsession with 70s/80s NYC artists.

 

[physicsfactor]

I read “The Three Musketeers” recently. Thought it was meh. Wasn’t close to the same league as “The Count of Monte Cristo”.

 

[aiw]

All the Young Dudes - Chapter 1 - MsKingBean89 - Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling [Archive of Our Own]

An Archive of Our Own, a project of the Organization for Transformative Works

archiveofourown.org

Just found out about this, but it’s a 500k word fan fic about the Marauders from Lupin’s POV and apparently Lupin and Sirius are a thing.

 

[torontoduke]

The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife: Balukjian, Brad: 9781496218742: Amazon.com: Books

The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife [Balukjian, Brad] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife

www.amazon.com

This book looks awesome.

Excellent thus far. Just at the point where he leaves Florida

 

[physicsfactor]

The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife: Balukjian, Brad: 9781496218742: Amazon.com: Books

The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife [Balukjian, Brad] on Amazon.com. *FREE* shipping on qualifying offers. The Wax Pack: On the Open Road in Search of Baseball's Afterlife

www.amazon.com

This book looks awesome.

Excellent thus far. Just at the point where he leaves Florida

I can’t remember if I posted about it or not when I read it, but I really enjoyed it. I was too young to know much about Gary Templeton, so I particularly enjoyed his chapter.

 

[deepdarkblue]

It took close to 500 hours, but I've managed to complete all 14 books in the Wheel of Time series. It's been quite a journey.

The first few books were a painful slog filled with central characters who I didn't like and wished death upon. Over time, they mostly managed to become not-shitty and I started to care about their plights, but it was still a slog.
The final book made it all worthwhile. May the Light bless Robert Jordan's widow for reaching out to Brandon Sanderson and asking him to complete the series, and bless Sanderson for saying yes. A healthy chunk of the final tome (it's about 900 pages) is dedicated to the final battle, and Brandon Sanderson can write the fuck out of an epic fantasy battle. Definitely worth the time.

 

[surfpenguin]

It took close to 500 hours, but I've managed to complete all 14 books in the Wheel of Time series. It's been quite a journey.

The first few books were a painful slog filled with central characters who I didn't like and wished death upon. Over time, they mostly managed to become not-shitty and I started to care about their plights, but it was still a slog.
The final book made it all worthwhile. May the Light bless Robert Jordan's widow for reaching out to Brandon Sanderson and asking him to complete the series, and bless Sanderson for saying yes. A healthy chunk of the final tome (it's about 900 pages) is dedicated to the final battle, and Brandon Sanderson can write the fuck out of an epic fantasy battle. Definitely worth the time.

I have mixed feelings on the Wheel of Time series. I agree with you on pretty much everything, it's excessively long, a lot of the characters suck, and Robert Jordan wasn't a great writer. Sanderson spun it around and turned the finale into something great. It's weird that Sanderson is replicating all of Jordan's missteps in the Stormlight Archives. Hopefully he can turn it around and make it great.

If you're still in the mood for some epic fantasy, check out The Malazan Book of the Fallen. I think it's the best fantasy series of all time.

 

[rome8180]

I've heard Malazan is really dense, which I don't necessarily mind. It's on my to-read list, along with hundreds of other books.

My current favorite fantasy author is Joe Abercrombie. I've read six books of his and loved every one. He's dark and cynical, but uses humor well. His characters are excellent.

 

[rome8180]

As for Sanderson, I read the first 100 pages of The Way of Kings and thought it was kind of a mess. I hear it gets much better. But there were some really strange decisions in terms of the way it was structured.

 

[surfpenguin]

As for Sanderson, I read the first 100 pages of The Way of Kings and thought it was kind of a mess. I hear it gets much better. But there were some really strange decisions in terms of the way it was structured.

After reading the first three of the Stormlight Archives I can't recommend them to anyone. Avoid them unless they get markedly better. Abercrombie is fucking great, love his books. Another good author is Brian McClellan. I've read his powder mage series and gods of blood and powder series, both are great. Also, the Locked Tomb series is fun and irreverent mix of Sci-Fi/Fantasy. If you're looking for a change of pace.

 

[deepdarkblue]

It took close to 500 hours, but I've managed to complete all 14 books in the Wheel of Time series. It's been quite a journey.

The first few books were a painful slog filled with central characters who I didn't like and wished death upon. Over time, they mostly managed to become not-shitty and I started to care about their plights, but it was still a slog.
The final book made it all worthwhile. May the Light bless Robert Jordan's widow for reaching out to Brandon Sanderson and asking him to complete the series, and bless Sanderson for saying yes. A healthy chunk of the final tome (it's about 900 pages) is dedicated to the final battle, and Brandon Sanderson can write the fuck out of an epic fantasy battle. Definitely worth the time.

I have mixed feelings on the Wheel of Time series. I agree with you on pretty much everything, it's excessively long, a lot of the characters suck, and Robert Jordan wasn't a great writer. Sanderson spun it around and turned the finale into something great. It's weird that Sanderson is replicating all of Jordan's missteps in the Stormlight Archives. Hopefully he can turn it around and make it great.

If you're still in the mood for some epic fantasy, check out The Malazan Book of the Fallen. I think it's the best fantasy series of all time.

I've read all of the main Malazan books and most of the side stories. It's far and away my favorite fantasy epic and I hope nobody ever decides to make a TV series out of it.

A funny thing about the last WoT book - I thought the epilogue was weak and out of step with the novel. Later, I learned that Robert Jordan had already written that prior to his death and they included it as he'd written it.

 

[rome8180]

@surfpenguin Which Brian McClellan book should I start with?

 

[deepdarkblue]

I've heard Malazan is really dense, which I don't necessarily mind. It's on my to-read list, along with hundreds of other books.

My current favorite fantasy author is Joe Abercrombie. I've read six books of his and loved every one. He's dark and cynical, but uses humor well. His characters are excellent.

Abercrombie is excellent.