December 6, 2024Dec 6 Just read North Woods by Daniel Mason. I can't even begin to adequately describe it. I almost gave up early on. A lot of brilliant writing, but as this reviewer states, at times "challenging" lol http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
December 9, 2024Dec 9 Finally finished Infinite Jest. Overall I’m more positive on it than everyone else in this thread. Plot is not DFW’s strong suit here, and the non-linear narrative does a lot of the heavy lifting, but all in all a fascinating read. Any book that makes you reread the first chapter after done is a good one by me.
December 9, 2024Dec 9 Jeremy Robert Johnson's "The Loop" is a fun read. I also started the "Three Body Problem" trilogy. I'm liking it better than the Netflix adaptation.
December 9, 2024Dec 9 ^ i read the first three body book and thought it was flat as a pancake and worse that it read like a young adult novel, not that those are automatically bad or anything. i heard the gravitas picks up in book two and three, so please let us know what you think when you get there. i'll probably read the last two books eventually, but no rush as i was disappointed in the first one. i thought both the chinese and international netflix mini series verisons were ok, not good, but not too bad -- i got through them both. more scifi -- i just finished inverted world by christopher priest on a quick trip to florida. it breezed along and was very good, although the finale was a bit of a letdown. i thought below the plot surface it was a good take on british classism and way of life and also maybe cults.
December 10, 2024Dec 10 6 hours ago, mrnyc said: ^ i read the first three body book and thought it was flat as a pancake and worse that it read like a young adult novel, not that those are automatically bad or anything. i heard the gravitas picks up in book two and three, so please let us know what you think when you get there. i'll probably read the last two books eventually, but no rush as i was disappointed in the first one. i thought both the chinese and international netflix mini series verisons were ok, not good, but not too bad -- i got through them both. more scifi -- i just finished inverted world by christopher priest on a quick trip to florida. it breezed along and was very good, although the finale was a bit of a letdown. i thought below the plot surface it was a good take on british classism and way of life and also maybe cults. Supposedly the problem is the translation of the first book, and that the second and third are better translated. I read the first and half the second and didn't notice the upgrade. I love the ideas, if not the prose, but I just fell off in the middle of the second book for whatever reason.
December 10, 2024Dec 10 I am rereading Anthony Trollope's six Parliamentary (aka Palliser) novels, although I may skip The Eustace Diamonds. They reflect his own experience running for office. Without ever completely giving up hope in government, his writing becomes more cynical (as well as funnier) as the series goes on. Remember: It's the Year of the Snake
January 17Jan 17 Just read Lazarus Man, Richard Price's most recent book. Excellent. About a man who seems to miraculously survive a horrific tenement collapse and the aftermath of this event among neighbors. I always recommend Price to others although to be honest I've only read one other novel, Freedomland. I began his much praised Lush Life years ago but got through only about 80 pages--not the author's fault. I just got lazy. Probably his most noteworthy book is Clockers (?) Maybe some day I'll get around to that lol http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
January 20Jan 20 Just finished Cobalt Red by Siddharth Kara. For anyone interested in the current state of human rights violations abroad... hooo boy
January 21Jan 21 Re-reading portions of The Brink by Marc Ambinder and The Spy and The Traitor by Ben MacIntyre for the script I'm writing. 🕵️♂️ "In the souls of the people the grapes of wrath are filling and growing heavy, growing heavy for the vintage." -- John Steinbeck
January 22Jan 22 On 1/20/2025 at 8:34 PM, KJP said: Re-reading portions of The Brink by Marc Ambinder and The Spy and The Traitor by Ben MacIntyre for the script I'm writing. 🕵️♂️ It sounds like this one might be relevant too: https://www.amazon.com/Operation-Solo-FBIs-Man-Kremlin/dp/0895264862
March 6Mar 6 i’m reading one of ne ohio scifi legends, the best of roger zelazny short stories. the stories are fine, classic tales, and i like them, but he has two annoying mad men era habits that bug the hell out of me. one is smoking — its a weird, gross, constant, absolute fetish. the other is the main character always has to be the smartest, best guy in the room. both of these tropes reach lol comical levels at times. for example, in one story he descibes a character as: she was tall and brilliant. he was taller. 😂
March 27Mar 27 On 3/6/2025 at 8:00 AM, mrnyc said: i’m reading one of ne ohio scifi legends, the best of roger zelazny short stories. the stories are fine, classic tales, and i like them, but he has two annoying mad men era habits that bug the hell out of me. one is smoking — its a weird, gross, constant, absolute fetish. the other is the main character always has to be the smartest, best guy in the room. both of these tropes reach lol comical levels at times. for example, in one story he descibes a character as: she was tall and brilliant. he was taller. 😂 One of Euclid High's more well known graduates, therefore a fellow GCC alumnus. I'd consider him much more fantasy than SF though.
March 27Mar 27 1 hour ago, E Rocc said: Okay, is anyone (else) a complete (or close) convert to e-books? Nope, and never will. Why are you a convert? I see no appeal to them.
March 27Mar 27 4 minutes ago, Ineffable_Matt said: Nope, and never will. Why are you a convert? I see no appeal to them. I started when I was working at the bar during the boring (I never used that word at work) times. Low light, bigger print. Reading a book doesn't fit the image, messing on a phone does. Plus I'm carrying around a big library. General advantages include low light, print size, many books instantly available, automatic bookmarking, word search, and multiple copies of the same book. While not all books are available in electronic format., these days many are that are never printed as well. I think the turning point is when I mentioned an idea to Les Roberts (he had already adapted one I gave him so he was prone to listening). He mentioned a book I had never heard of with a similar plot ("Defending Jacob", I think the title was). I was reading it less than an hour later.
March 27Mar 27 3 hours ago, E Rocc said: One of Euclid High's more well known graduates, therefore a fellow GCC alumnus. I'd consider him much more fantasy than SF though. yeah he was well know for the amber books in the fantasy world, but equally for sf, he won every sf award. so most definitely not “much more.” conrad/immortal, dream master, light, all sf new waver classix. eccelesiates, the short in my book, is his best regarded and is most definitely sf. damnation alley is another and probably my favorite. he even co-authored a novel with pkd, which is pretty rad.
March 27Mar 27 4 hours ago, E Rocc said: Okay, is anyone (else) a complete (or close) convert to e-books? I almost exclusively read e-books for a few reasons. Easy library interface through Libby, easier to read with my aging eyes (I can adjust font size), I can read in bed at night with lights off and not disturb my wife.
March 27Mar 27 6 hours ago, E Rocc said: I started when I was working at the bar during the boring (I never used that word at work) times. Low light, bigger print. Reading a book doesn't fit the image, messing on a phone does. Plus I'm carrying around a big library. General advantages include low light, print size, many books instantly available, automatic bookmarking, word search, and multiple copies of the same book. While not all books are available in electronic format., these days many are that are never printed as well. I think the turning point is when I mentioned an idea to Les Roberts (he had already adapted one I gave him so he was prone to listening). He mentioned a book I had never heard of with a similar plot ("Defending Jacob", I think the title was). I was reading it less than an hour later. Other than not fitting the image and automatic bookmarking, those are solid reasons I guess. I just don’t like the thought of “well, my battery died, guess I can’t read now…” I also hate the loss of all physical media.
March 28Mar 28 11 hours ago, Ineffable_Matt said: Other than not fitting the image and automatic bookmarking, those are solid reasons I guess. I just don’t like the thought of “well, my battery died, guess I can’t read now…” I also hate the loss of all physical media. When you're working as a bouncer in your 40s and 50s, image matters. I typically keep my old phone around for battery related reasons. As I said, multiple copies. Oh, the bookmarks transfer over.
March 28Mar 28 Anyone an Agatha Christie fan? Because I’m looking for rec’s. Read the first Mrs Marple book and want to dive further into her bibliography.
March 28Mar 28 21 hours ago, E Rocc said: General advantages include low light, print size, many books instantly available, automatic bookmarking, word search, and multiple copies of the same book. If you're a note-taker, eBooks can be a lot better. If I had done to my physical Bible what I've done to my Kindle version, it would be falling apart by now and look like a highlighter factory threw up on it. Not to mention that revising notes later is even easier in an eBook, whereas it involves scratching out or really creative revision/insertion marks and arrows on a physical book. 23 hours ago, E Rocc said: Okay, is anyone (else) a complete (or close) convert to e-books? But I'm still not a complete convert because a physical book can be a lot better for turning pages back and forth. Even with bookmarking features, switching between multiple section of the same book is easier with 2+ physical bookmarks than electronic ones. And if I'm just reading for leisure, physical books just have that satisfying feel. Case in point, back to the main title of this thread: I now get reading recs from my kids, of all things, so I'm working my way through the Percy Jackson and the Olympians series for the first time ever. Physical books all the way for that one.
March 28Mar 28 A case in point regarding selection. I'm a big fan of Lois McMaster Bujold's Vorkosigan series. I've discovered a fanfic site (AO3) which has some pretty high quality stories written in that universe (or alternates thereof). One alt-canon series in particular probably has more words than LMB has written in canon, and is close to the same quality (which is saying a lot). Strictly electronic.
March 28Mar 28 2 hours ago, Enginerd said: Anyone an Agatha Christie fan? Because I’m looking for rec’s. Read the first Mrs Marple book and want to dive further into her bibliography. Can’t go wrong with any of the Hercule Poirot classics such as Murder on the Orient Express.
March 29Mar 29 What I can't wait to read: Authority by Andrea Long Chu. ALC has been an essayist and critic for New York Magazine. According to critics her writing is fabulously erudite, visciously funny, intellectually-challenged BS. There's a good review of the book by Becca Rothfeld in today's WaPo. I'm on the waiting list at my library. https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/03/28/authority-andrea-long-chu-review/ Remember: It's the Year of the Snake
April 13Apr 13 On 3/29/2025 at 2:11 PM, Dougal said: What I can't wait to read: Authority by Andrea Long Chu. ALC has been an essayist and critic for New York Magazine. According to critics her writing is fabulously erudite, visciously funny, intellectually-challenged BS. There's a good review of the book by Becca Rothfeld in today's WaPo. I'm on the waiting list at my library. https://www.washingtonpost.com/books/2025/03/28/authority-andrea-long-chu-review/ The book is at last in my hands. After reading the first few essays, I think the author is challenging, informative, and often funny. What more can you ask? It's probably age-related (I'm really old), but some of the references require extra thought. For example, the author writes Baldwin and means James. I read Baldwin and think Stanley. There's an index, but no footnotes - my only complaint. Remember: It's the Year of the Snake
April 14Apr 14 Recently read 1) Intermezzo by Irish writer Sally Rooney (the story of two estranged brothers following the death of their father; and 2) in the process of reading Playworld by Adam Ross (a coming-of-age story set in the early 80's--Gen Xers take note!). Both are excellent, yet coincidentally each feature a somewhat disreputable character named Naomi: In Intermezzo, a struggling young college student who's a bit of a gold digger being "kept" by the older brother, a yuppie-ish lawyer (though he's not exactly a pillar of virtue either); the second Naomi wealthy, youngish middle-aged and married, who's pursuing the protagonist, an adolescent, so therefore most likely the sleazier of the two. Not that I'm making any value judgements about every Naomi on Earth lol. http://www.mainstreetpainesville.org/
April 14Apr 14 https://historynerdsunited.com/2024/06/vanishing-act-by-dan-hampton-book-review/ About "Plane 8" of the Doolittle Raid, the one that ended up in Russia, as it turns out on purpose.
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