Books: What are you reading tonight? - Page 627 - The Lounge Discussion and Review on Literature, Arts, Culture

I heard a lot of good things about Perdido Street Station by China Mieville, how it's supposed to be urban fantasy with a literary bent and what not. And I was buying into the hype for about a quarter of the way. The landscape he creates and the inventive creatures he's imagined remind me of a sort of steampunk Dr. Moreau. But then his prose style started niggling at the back of my mind -- geez, he uses the passive voice a lot. Then I noticed some awkward sentence constructions and obvious open-thesaurus composition. And now that I've dug myself out from under his avalanche of adjectives, I've got to say I didn't like this book much at all. Lots of loose plot ends and lazy character turns (oh, so and so is evil now, okay...). Mieville has talent and imagination to spare, but it seems like this book is an exercise in him writing too big for his britches. I picked up one of his more recent books -- The City & The City -- when I was still in his thrall, but I'm not much looking forward to it now.

Well then don't read this census taker. I had some of the same issues with Perdido that you did but this census taker is a lot of the same except the world is way more boring. Not a good book.

But it's definitely more stripped down

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09-23-2016 , 08:29 AM

#15653

ChaseNutley26

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 4,594

RA Salvatore has put out what seems like several thousand of these Drizzt books, and I decided to pick one up: Homeland. Actually not half bad. Nothing terribly exceptional about it, just a good story about a dark elf who is a great fighter but doesn't feel the bloodlust all his comrades feel. I wouldn't be opposed to dipping a toe into this series every now and again.

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09-23-2016 , 09:47 AM

#15654

Abysmal

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Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 3,086

Quote:

Originally Posted by FeralCreature

I finished Sapiens: A Brief History of Humankind recently. I liked it quite a lot, although it wasn't what I expected, which was a drier, more neutral book on the biology and anthropology of humans. Instead, the author is quite opinionated, which I didn't mind at all since some of his opinions were quite eye-opening and / or thought provoking. Highly recommend it.

This is the best book ive read this year.

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09-23-2016 , 11:13 AM

#15655

MarkD

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 4,624

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaseNutley26

I loved reading these. I read them in published order as I have been reading them for years, so I'm not sure how it would be to read them in chronological (characters chronology) order. The Icewind Dale trilogy, starting with the Crystal Shard, were the first books published and they are what made Drizzt and Salvatore famous. I remember loving these.

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09-23-2016 , 12:11 PM

#15656

FeralCreature

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Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 3,148

Quote:

Originally Posted by Abysmal

This is the best book ive read this year.

I see Harari has a new one out, **** Deus, which I guess continues where Sapiens ended.

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09-23-2016 , 12:12 PM

#15657

FeralCreature

veteran

Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 3,148

LOL at the profanity filter. Seriously?

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09-23-2016 , 12:53 PM

#15658

Vegasvilla8

centurion

Join Date: Sep 2010 Posts: 134

Quote:

Originally Posted by FeralCreature

I see Harari has a new one out, **** Deus, which I guess continues where Sapiens ended.

yes, but it's not available in the US :/ Not even for Kindle.
It's planned for a feb 2017 release which is ridic since it's out already in the UK.
I wrote him a few messages about it but he hasn't gotten back to me on it.

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09-24-2016 , 05:42 PM

#15659

NajdorfDefense

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Join Date: Feb 2003 Posts: 17,563

New Amor Towles is out, great setup, def enjoying the opening.

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09-24-2016 , 08:55 PM

#15660

-Insert Witty SN-

Carpal \'Tunnel

Join Date: Mar 2009 Posts: 17,921

actually have both of the harari books based initially on a rec from an interview with sabastian junger that i listened to. his book Tribe is short and sweet. gonna start with **** Deus first.

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09-29-2016 , 01:49 AM

#15661

FeralCreature

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Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 3,148

I finished American Gods by Neil Gaiman. It was an entertaining read, but not much more than that. The antagonist, Shadow, has to be one of the shallowest characters of any book I've read. Stuff just happens to him and he does stuff, seemingly without any motivations for his actions. Furthermore, it's supposedly a book about America, but I'm missing any particular observations an outsider might have on America. It just takes place there.

They are turning it into a TV series apparently and I imagine that could work very well.As a book, it leaves a lot be desired.

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09-29-2016 , 10:12 AM

#15662

StormBorn

old hand

Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 1,649

I didn't like it at all, it took me months to finish it as I would go weeks without picking it up. I can't understand how it's so highly rated.

edit - there was actually a couple of stories about some of the old Gods that I liked but everything with Shadow was terrible.

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09-30-2016 , 04:44 AM

#15663

karamazonk

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Apr 2009 Posts: 4,626

Quote:

Originally Posted by FeralCreature

I finished it a few weeks ago. Sums up my thoughts pretty well. I was surprised it wasn't better after having really enjoyed Ocean at the End of the Lane a few years back.

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09-30-2016 , 08:14 AM

#15664

ChaseNutley26

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 4,594

Upthread aways a couple people recommended The Blade Itself by Joe Abercrombie. Damn good fantasy book. I like how it gets a bit nasty at times. Very good characters, too. And Steven Pacey's narration is fantastic -- he sounds a lot like Michael Caine.

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09-30-2016 , 10:07 AM

#15665

Bluegrassplayer

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Join Date: Sep 2007 Posts: 38,759

I enjoyed the trilogy, but I think all of his standalone books are better. The Heroes being the best imo.

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09-30-2016 , 11:47 AM

#15666

FeralCreature

veteran

Join Date: Jul 2012 Posts: 3,148

Protagonist, not antagonist. Brainfart. Still not a great book.

Other Gaiman is better? It was my first.

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09-30-2016 , 12:11 PM

#15667

Abysmal

veteran

Join Date: Feb 2012 Posts: 3,086

I really liked neverwhere when i read it it a few years ago. Def better than AG imo.

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09-30-2016 , 01:29 PM

#15668

MarkD

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jan 2003 Posts: 4,624

Sandman by Gaiman is amazing. It's a graphic novel series though.

I've put Lonesome Dove on hold in favor of rereading Notes from the Underground by Dostoevsky (Pevear). It's short and I have a honeymoon coming up in a couple of weeks and I want a big book I can sink my teeth into for the trip and that's what Lonesome Dove will be.

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09-30-2016 , 07:25 PM

#15669

The Yugoslavian

STTF HUC II Winner

Join Date: Sep 2004 Posts: 25,040

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluegrassplayer

I enjoyed the trilogy, but I think all of his standalone books are better. The Heroes being the best imo.

Agreed.

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10-01-2016 , 01:50 AM

#15670

ChaseNutley26

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 4,594

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bluegrassplayer

I enjoyed the trilogy, but I think all of his standalone books are better. The Heroes being the best imo.

Haha, give me a chance to get there -- I gotta get through the trilogy first!

Quote:

Originally Posted by MarkD

Sandman is one I've been wanting to sink my teeth into for a while now, but haven't gotten around to doing. I was just browsing all the editions and there are so many I'm sort of at a loss as to which to get. Any suggestions on how to attack it? I'm leaning toward a collection like the Omnibus or Absolute, but open to anything really.

Oh, and congratulations!

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10-01-2016 , 02:48 PM

#15671

StormBorn

old hand

Join Date: Nov 2013 Posts: 1,649

Quote:

Originally Posted by ChaseNutley26

Haha, give me a chance to get there -- I gotta get through the trilogy first!

You have to be realistic about these things.

Best Served Cold > Heroes > > > Red Country for me

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10-01-2016 , 08:29 PM

#15672

adsman

mazungu

Join Date: Jan 2005 Posts: 6,198

Hey all, just thought I'd give you a heads-up that my second book was released yesterday, Run Guts Pull Cones.

The blurb is as follows:

Returning home broke after six years of adventure abroad, Adam Piggott finds himself cast adrift. His friends aren’t interested in his stories of witch doctors and whitewater, and he’s working a dead-end job just to make ends meet.

Until a chance encounter at a restaurant and a frank talk from a good friend force him to the realization that being a man isn’t about having one unique experience and coming home. It’s about living for adventure – and growing as a man. Hijinks and mayhem ensue as the gentleman adventurer sets off for new horizons, and a new challenge – forging bonds of brotherhood on the rivers of the Italian Alps.

Hope you like it. I think it's better than the first book although I would say that. Big thanks to Busto who edited it again for me and Yeti who provided invaluable proof reading.

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10-02-2016 , 04:51 AM

#15673

PaulDLane

grinder

Join Date: Jul 2006 Posts: 427

Hillbilly Elegy: A Memoir of a Family and Culture in Crisis

Started reading so far finding it interesting. I grew up in a rural town in WV so I can relate
to many things in this book.

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10-02-2016 , 10:13 AM

#15674

ChaseNutley26

Pooh-Bah

Join Date: Jul 2009 Posts: 4,594

I listened to George Saunders' collection Tenth of December. Some very good stories here for the most part. He's exceptional at writing internal monologues and seems to have a lot of fun with narrative and voice. I kinda wish I wouldn't have listened to it since it's probably better consumed in small chunks and I do audio in volume mostly, and I did feel lost more than a couple times. That being said, I enjoyed his reveals quite a bit once I could figure out what was going on.

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10-02-2016 , 03:24 PM

#15675

Mulezen

grinder

Join Date: Oct 2013 Posts: 604

Saunders is an original voice to be sure. I've enjoyed his stories as they have appeared in The New Yorker. The landscapes of the best of these off kilter voices can take you to demensions fantasy never dreams of. I'm thinking of Barthleme, Stanley Elkins, or my favorite Barry Hannah (Bats Out of Hell is a good starting place).

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