Can you explain the Discworld series a little bit? From what I gather they are each semi independent stories but all part of a larger story. It seems lime they are grouped into categories. Do you read them in order of publication or by subset ( rincewind, witches etc).

I'm kind of interested in this also. I did some quick research about the series a few mins ago. I'm kind of turned off with the amount of books though. Once I start a series I can't stop to read something else. I have to finish it before starting another book/series. That's a lot of time to commit to this series.

I already have at least 10-15 books that I've been putting off reading b/c I keep starting a new series.

They don't really have an overall story arc in the way that WoT or similar do. They're just interrelated stories all taking part in the same world.

Frankly I thought I'd like them more than I did. Read a couple, got partway through a thrid and quit. Pretty meh, honestly.

I will take those recommendations re DFW on board.
I will have a close peruse before I order one of his books.

Flying through Richard Feynman's Quasi- Autobiography/Short Story collection ---> What do you care what other people think?
Some pretty entertaining anecdotes within it.

Seconded. Was just going to post that when I saw this. Not a tremendous fan of either on their own, but together they're gold.

Feynmans books are all great.

Just started shadow country by peter mathiessen. Excellent so far, really excited about this one.

Anyone ever read the book Wool by Hugh Howey? One of the people on a podcast I listen to was raving about it and I was hoping to get another opinion.

Great book. Apparently Ridley Scott is turning it into a movie.

Craig Teicher, an American poet (I don't know anything else about him) asked his Facebook friends for fiction recommendations: I found the responses interesting:

I guess for McCarthy, art always did imitate life


http://www.thesmokinggun.com/documen...holster-675432

Wow

Those are some elite tags

Been on a short fiction kick lately. Winesburg Ohio is one of my all time faves and Anderson's writing is incredible. Recently started reading some of his other short stories. One in particular I highly recommend is "The Egg", absolutely brilliant.

Also on the short story angle, read a very brief Updike story called "Poker Night" about a group of aging longtime friends and their regular card game. Fantastic story - if you are a guy who has been playing poker with the same group of friends for many years (as I have) it will really hit home.

Anyone want to borrow A Confederacy of Dunces or Kitchen Confidential on Kindle?

I would have if you asked about 2 weeks ago. I didn't renew amazon prime b/c I wasn't using it enough to justify paying for it again.

Enjoyed it quite a bit. Just finished the second in the series, Shift, which is even better.

Started War and Peace a couple of days ago. Hopefully I'll be determined enough to finish it.

For my "LA nonfiction" book I chose It's So Easy by Duff McKagan .. pretty good stuff so far, I didn't know Duff beer on the Simpsons was named after him (and his alcoholic ways)

Coming into this thread always makes me feel guilty that I do what could be considered light reading. In the past week or so, I've finished a Lee Child Jack Reacher book, a Tom Clancy Jack Ryan book, and a Dean Koontz Odd Thomas book. I'm finishing up No Easy Day and will then get back to How To Be A Poker Player by Qureshi.

Has any one read the culture novels? I read consider phlebas last year (this is the first one, right?) and thought it was ok but certain parts annoyed me a little. I enjoy sci-fi but is it worth sticking with? Do they get better?

I started Gravity's Rainbow at the beginning yesterday, woke up today and had a banana for breakfast for the first time in what has to be over a year.

Without making the connection

Can't believe i never found this forum before now

I tend to buy most of my books used, so not always the most up to date reader, however of recent books i have read i haven't found a review of "I am Pilgrim" here, so that can be my first contribution.

I am Pilgrum is a superb spy thriller in the Jason Bourne/Jack Bauer mould. There is nothing original about our hero - Pilgrim is an orphan (Bond) brought up by a wealthy family (Batman) who ends up working in a secret division of a secret division (Bourne). He even gets a sidekick - and yes, he is black (almost certain Denzel Washington will get this part for the film...).

However, what I really enjoyed about this book was the fleshing out of the back-stories of the protagonists; narrated in the first person, our hero describes characters in an unemotional, non-judgemental way. I also felt the pacing was superb, as it is slowly wound up as the pieces of the puzzle either fall or are placed together, and finally the attention to detail; the emotive and vivid descriptions of geographic locations, and the way the author manages to ratchet up just a little tension, then release it, and in addition there are the inevitable, but not entirely obviously plot twists.

The author Terry Hayes is a former journalist and screen writer and this book will make an great blockbuster in 3-4 years, and that was my only real criticism - some scenes were obviously written with Hollywood in mind, and they felt a bit out of place - i just wish that rather than a film they made it a TV series a la '24' to really allow the story and characters room to breathe.

Minor gripes aside, it's a fine read for Lee Childs/Dan Brown fans.

I have had this short-listed for a while, so yeah any opinions would be great

Good luck, man. I love Russian lit from that period, but W&P is such a colossal undertaking.