The Stand was my first King, and remains a favorite. Now that I’ve got an e-reader, I should give it another read.
On the agenda for when I finish Sun of Suns is probably a re-read of Garth Nix’s Abhorsen trilogy.
Finished The Brass Verdict, by Michael Connelly. An excellent read. I’ve become a Connelly fan, as has the wife.
Next up is The Heart of the Matter, by Graham Greene.
Now I’m on Arabian Nights. I knew they’d be interesting, but I had no idea how racy they were. They start with a slave-on-slave orgy scene and just keep going from there.
Which version are you reading?
It’s the Haddawy edition, based on the Mahdi edition.
Just started the third book (Wishsong of Shannara) in the Shannara Trilogy. The first one just really sucked but I pushed through. The second I actually enjoyed. I’m hoping the third will be ok.
Picked up Why We Read What We Read: A Delightfully Opinionated Journey Through Bestselling Books by Lisa Adams & John Heath from the library based on the title/description & a couple of GoodReads reviews. This book is pretty much as advertised - the authors explore the best seller lists from the past decade or so, grouping books by genre and sharing their thoughts on each grouping.
There’s many amusing digressions along the way (such as the proliferation of pantsuits referenced in a Higgins Clark mystery) and no small amount of snark, as you might expect from two academic types. I was pleasantly surprised to see how even-handed the section on political books was; they found faults with both the conservative and liberal pundits; stating that they’re more interested in placing blame on the other side than providing a thoughtful examination of the situation and/or a solution: “Empathy, not just for ‘sinners’ but also for those who disagree with one’s definition of ‘sin’ is completely absent from the political books.”
In fact, Adams and Heath believe a lot of what we read serves to reinforce our current set of beliefs, versus doing what good literature should, which is to present alternative viewpoints and challenge our mindset. “An American can easily make it through every single minute of a busy life without ever honestly confronting difference, without being challenged to defend a point of view…” Not quite sure I agree with that… but then again, I’m a bit of an outlier, I suppose.
Adams and Hart had some interesting insights on the the self-help and spirituality sections as well - dedicating considerable time to an analysis of the **Left Behind **series, and its focus on faith vs reason. They set their sights on the New Age genre as well, commenting that “Not everybody has the stamina to defend a locust-happy God.”
Moving on to fiction - they examined the thriller genre, commenting along the way on the likes of Stephen King, who “picks his heroes from among the masses; they’re not so much diamonds in the rough as chunks of colorful gravel”. **The DaVinci Code **also gets quite a bit of attention - whether you agreed with Dan Brown’s theories or not, you were reading his stuff!
They also came to rather a depressing conclusion about the romance genre - that women were reading these books (which ALWAYS have a happy ending) as an escape from their own lives: *“Romance novels must be taken seriously for the therapeutic role they perform… but it’s awfully sad, no way around it, when a book provides more sustenance than a mate. And it’s sadder still to learn that we love to read about love because we have so little of it.” *I guess that means I’m pretty satisfied with my romantic relationship, because I don’t care for this genre.
There’s a lot of food for thought in this book; however, I’m not sure I agree with all of their conclusions. I’d be interested in reading an updated version at some point, as the political scene has only gotten more divisive since the 2008 elections.
i’m plowing through steven king’s 11/22/63.
also
island of vice, the book about theodore roosevelt’s time as police commish.
Finished this. An intriguing look at how the veddy British government bureaucracy peered into the abyss of possible nuclear devastation (just ten Soviet H-bombs, they estimated, would be enough to utterly destroy the UK) and tried to find some way to deal with it.
Now I’m returning to George R.R. Martin’s A Dance with Dragons after a long time away. It’s so huge that I’d taken some notes before, and will have to sort of re-familiarize myself with it…!
So it’s good? The pemise intrigues me greatly, but I can probably wait for paperback now.
I’m about 3/4 through The Well of Ascension by Brandon Sanderson, the 2nd book in his Mistborn tilogy. The first book got off to a slightly awkward start, which made me fear I might be getting into another Night Angel type of series (god that was horribly written), but it picked up rather nicely and by now I’m hooked. I recommend the series.
I’m just about finished with Masterpieces: the best science fiction of the twentieth century and it’s been pretty good. I was delighted to reacquaint myself with George R. R. Martin’s “Sandkings”, which I had only read once before.
I recieved Sir MacHinery by Tom McGowen through interlibrary loan. I’ve hardly had a chance to do much more than sniff it over, but I’m excited. This looks like just the sort of jewel I was sifting through library shelves for as a kid (though with its plain gray cover and nondescript title, I’d probably have missed it).
Still reading a Dance with Dragons in book form and Jules Verne’s North and South and Clark Ashton’s Smith’s Collrected Works on the Nook, when I can steal it from wife and daughter.
I’ve also quick;ly read a biography of, and a collection of works by Georg Christoph Lichtenberg, an 18th century physicist who investigated electromagnetic phenomena, hobnobbed with George II, vuisited British theater, explicated at great length the engravings of Hogarth, and made witty epigrams and atrocious puns. A man after my own heart. He’s still known for the lightning-like figures made by passing an electrical spark across a prepared plate (although nowadays they use plexiglass), still called Lichtenberg Figures in his honor. He repeated Franklin’s kite experiment – with a balloon, which was easier. He frequently set off minor explosions in his laboratory, to the alarm of his neighbors – but he always said that suvch experiments were more memorable. A fascinating, underappreciated guy.
He once wrote Non Cogitant, ergo non sunt, in defiance of Descartes.
More memorably, he wrote of a woman “Her petticoat had very wide red and blue stripes and looked as if it were made of theater curtain. I’d have paid a lot for a front-row-center seat, but the curtain was never raised.”
We need more physicists like this.
I read the 5th Harry Dresden novel … I like these, but MAN, they are WEARING me OUT emotionally. On the surface they are pretty light, but everything that happens to Harry seems like one crappy thing after another. Does this guy ever get a break? I feel depressed when I am reading them.
I also finished a kid lit title, The Secret Tree by Natalie Standiford. Engaging enough, but not a classic. Would be cute, I think, for kids in the 9 - 11 age range. Neighborhood kids investigating secrets during summer vacation.
I’m currently halfway through a YA title that is awesome so far - Code Name Verity by Elizabeth Wein. Girl spy shot down on a mission over Nazi Germany!
it is good. i keep wondering what i would do in the main character’s place, and poking ahead to see how things and people work out. haven’t stopped reading, but i wasn’t gonna wait hundreds of pages to find out what happens to mnop, qrs, or xyz.
i’m mostly reading it at home because i don’t want to haul a 23000 thousand pound book around
Oh, yes! “Sandkings” was the first GRRM I ever read, in high school, and he hooked me right away. Wonderfully chilling and well-written. His “The Way of Cross and Dragon” is also a fantastic sf short story.
I had a copy of Charles Stross’s “The Apocalypse Codex” on pre-order at Amazon … it came out on the 3rd. Alas, I had already finished it by 11am on the 4th.
<sigh> It’s going to be a loooong wait until the next one. Cthulhu ftagn!
Kraken: The Curious, Exciting, and Slightly Disturbing Science of Squid by Wendy Williams.
It’s pretty interesting. Squid are strange and curious beasties.
Another book that didn’t really resolve. I think with true crime books, you need to find out what actually happened. I was waiting for the solution to the mystery, and there wasn’t one, just some inconclusive speculation.
So, why has no-one else (that I’ve noticed) commented on The Long Earth? Lots of people said they were going to read it, but as far as I can see I’m the only one who read it and commented about it.
Finally started A Song of Ice and Fire. I was going to hold off until the series was finished, but I’m worried either George Martin or I will pass before that happens.
I like it so far, it feels like a soap opera but you could say the same thing about War and Peace. It’s very well written.
A pertinent video, very good: http://tinyurl.com/7zdvv9h. (They call him “The Great Bearded Glacier”, heh.)
Yeah, I’m doubtful he’ll finish. He’s another Robert Jordan, eh?