What book(s) are you reading right now?

[DainBramaged]

The Road
by Cormac McCarthy

I gotta say, this might be the most difficult read I've had yet. I am not at all exceptionally well-read, at least in terms of a wide selection of authors, and I am trying to change that.

This book though, the prose is, well I don't know how to describe it. The style for dialog is also sort of perplexing.

I've been trying to read it before bed and, well, it's putting me to sleep after a few pages. (mind you, I have been tired each time and was hoping for just that, but my oh my it happens fast). It's dense, if that's a proper and accurate description of prose.

I've always heard this was an exceptional novel, so do I just need to give it some more time? Get invested in the story and the struggle will melt away?

What say you, ATOT?

I felt sort of the same way at first but then I realized that if/when you visualize all of the stuff, it makes it so much more enjoyable for me. I was trying to read it all too fast. I'm in need of slowing down for a book like this. I'm about 70% through it.

I say keep going. I read the entire thing in a day though, so perhaps if you don't feel compelled to keep reading that might not be a good sign. McCarthy in general can be challenging at times. The Road is written in a way to help convey the extremely dark subject matter which might be why you are having problems getting into it. There is nothing happy about that book.

Agree. There were some pretty heavy topics that he managed to express without even seeming to try. I am pretty impressed.

 

[IronWing]

The Last Legends of Earth - A.A. Attanasio

I liked the author's Arthurian series. This book is straight sci-fi, so far, so good.

 

[chowderhead]

I just finished:

Wool
by Hugh Howey

Great book, fun read. I am really excited to read the sequels, Shift and Dust, but first I want to expand my horizons and give myself a break for once. I've always plunged right ahead and read an entire series before moving on, like with Dune and The Dark Tower. I need to further develop my library for a multitude of reasons.


I just started:

The Road
by Cormac McCarthy

I gotta say, this might be the most difficult read I've had yet. I am not at all exceptionally well-read, at least in terms of a wide selection of authors, and I am trying to change that.

This book though, the prose is, well I don't know how to describe it. The style for dialog is also sort of perplexing.

I've been trying to read it before bed and, well, it's putting me to sleep after a few pages. (mind you, I have been tired each time and was hoping for just that, but my oh my it happens fast). It's dense, if that's a proper and accurate description of prose.

I've always heard this was an exceptional novel, so do I just need to give it some more time? Get invested in the story and the struggle will melt away?

What say you, ATOT?

The Road is one of my favorite books of all times. I reread it every once in a while. I find the prose sparse ... he uses punctuations sparingly but I never found it too difficult to read through. It's a dark, bleak book but the experience is so moving to me. I find something new each time I reread it. The movie was good too but on a different level.

 

[IronWing]

The Last Legends of Earth - A.A. Attanasio

I liked the author's Arthurian series. This book is straight sci-fi, so far, so good.

Finished it, pretty good. Attanasio does for spiders what Hitchcock did for birds.

 

[mcurphy]

I just finished The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia by Alfred McCoy, a professor up at UW-Madison. Absolutely fascinating and revealing book. It made me feel like a dumb American. I had no idea how complicit the British Empire had been in the creation of an opium-addled workforce in China. I never realized how little responsibility the US government took for the creation of a heroin-addled military. And I never had any idea how much the CIA not just KNEW about this all, but actually DID to create all of this mess. Amazing book.

Now in the middle of Mistborn, I'm really enjoying it. Interesting magic system too.

Don't mind me, just marking these 2 as books I want to read.

 

[stormkroe]

R.A. Salvatore
Vengeance of the Iron Dwarf

Hugh Ross
Lights in the Sky and Little Green Men

 

[angminas]

Just finishing up The Belgariad for about the eighth time. Next time I read through it I plan to keep a record of all the times I wanted to punch Aunt Pol in the face.

 

[SMOGZINN]

Since I last checked in I've read,
Gils All Fright Diner by A. Lee Martinez
I liked this book a lot, it was a silly easy read. It was like a book written in the style of the movie me of Tucker and Dale vs Evil. I liked it so much that I went out and bought,
A Nameless Witch also by A. Lee Martinez, which while not terrible, I didn't like all that much.
Just this morning I decided I wanted to do something different and started Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut, mainly because I have never read it and feel that I should.

 

[norseamd]

I just finished The Politics of Heroin in Southeast Asia by Alfred McCoy, a professor up at UW-Madison. Absolutely fascinating and revealing book. It made me feel like a dumb American. I had no idea how complicit the British Empire had been in the creation of an opium-addled workforce in China. I never realized how little responsibility the US government took for the creation of a heroin-addled military. And I never had any idea how much the CIA not just KNEW about this all, but actually DID to create all of this mess. Amazing book.

Yep. The British and other great power countries including America and Japan more or less destroyed China in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Not to mention for all this talk about Japan being the evil imperial savages that were aligned with the Nazis we never talk about how we had good relations with them earlier in the Victorian Age and how we were even on the same side in World War 1 when the Japanese took a lot of Pacific territory.

 

[norseamd]

Water 4.0 by David Sedlak He's a professor, and I believe it's his first book for popular consumption. Not as entertaining as the other book. However, this book is providing me with information I have never encountered about things that are fundamental to human civilization: usable water and the problems concerning waste. It's both historical and scientific. I'm around 25% into it. He starts with the Romans and takes it from there to the present time and extrapolates, explaining where things can go from here.

Huge problem in the 21st century especially in Asia where the Chinese want to start diverting all the water that flows out of Tibet to their populated coastal provinces. Most of that water feeds India and Southeast Asia that that would cause huge humanitarian concerns and might start World War 3 for obviously understandable logical concerns.

 

[BurnItDwn]

Now Im Reading Jude the Obscure, its slow and boring, helps me fall asleep at night.
Overall the story is not bad, but its not as exciting as stuff like Fyodor Dostoyoevsky.

 

[ViviTheMage]

On the third book for the mistborn series, finding it pretty entertaining.

I had just read the two books for the stormlight archive, that one was really good imo...going to be painful to have to wait for each installment!

 

[AznAnarchy99]

I haven't read a book in years but just bought one from a recommendation here.

The Bogleheads' Guide to Investing

I think I wanna start getting into books again. Running out of things to watch on Netflix lol.

 

[destrekor]

I was browsing for specific books available from my library in eBook format, and saw they had one I wanted, available in Kindle format to boot.

So I am taking a break from The Road (which I bought), and ha e now started:
Infinite Jest
by David Foster Wallace

I'm really liking this so far. I knew I needed a more comical story if I am to dip my toes in the skilled literary artists category of authorship.

 

[norseamd]

Have any of you guys ever read this book?

http://www.amazon.com/The-Social-Animal-Character-Achievement/dp/0812979370

 

[IronWing]

Ashes of a Black Frost: Book Three of The Iron Elves by Chris Evans

The series is solid fantasy writing, fast moving.

 

[clamum]

Why Nations Fail - The Origins of Power, Prosperity, and Poverty

Pretty good read so far; I'm about 25% of the way through the book.

 

[biostud]

Joe Abercrombie:
Half a king
Best served cold

Excellent writing, very grim.

 

[dmoney1980]

Joe Abercrombie:
Half a king
Best served cold

Excellent writing, very grim.

I'm a big fan of Abercrombie, loved The First Law trilogy! The bloody nine is one of my favorite book characters.

I just finished The Trysmoon Saga - all 4 books are free for Kindle unlimited members, while the first book is free for prime members. There are 4 books in this series and you can get through them pretty quickly, averaging 350-450 pages each if you look at the paperback editions. I would say that the first two books are the best in the series. Really interesting world, magic system, as well as a unique romantic angle. I recommend that prime members give the first book a shot since it's free, and you can decide if you want to read the rest of the series. Overall, I'd rate the series a solid 7.5 /10

link: http://www.amazon.com/Trysmoon-Book...=UTF8&qid=1427044435&sr=8-2&keywords=trysmoon

 

[Superself]

I'm a big fan of Abercrombie, loved The First Law trilogy! The bloody nine is one of my favorite book characters.

I just finished The Trysmoon Saga - all 4 books are free for Kindle unlimited members, while the first book is free for prime members. There are 4 books in this series and you can get through them pretty quickly, averaging 350-450 pages each if you look at the paperback editions. I would say that the first two books are the best in the series. Really interesting world, magic system, as well as a unique romantic angle. I recommend that prime members give the first book a shot since it's free, and you can decide if you want to read the rest of the series. Overall, I'd rate the series a solid 7.5 /10

link: http://www.amazon.com/Trysmoon-Book...=UTF8&qid=1427044435&sr=8-2&keywords=trysmoon

Same here about the Bloody Nine. I'm looking forward to the next trilogy from Joe.

 

[thedarkwolf]

Ninefingers was good but Glokta the cripple was the best character

 

[Pheran]

I'm in the middle of Banewreaker: Volume I of The Sundering and I'm enjoying it. This book is somewhat unique because it's an epic fantasy told from the point of view of the "dark side."

 

[CraKaJaX]

Got a hand-me-down Kindle from my uncle with a ton of books on it. Having never owned a Kindle, it is all new to me... but I'm loving it so far. Recently finished The Kite Runner & Misery (Stephen King). Just started reading The Stand.

 

[Pheran]

Got a hand-me-down Kindle from my uncle with a ton of books on it. Having never owned a Kindle, it is all new to me... but I'm loving it so far. Recently finished The Kite Runner & Misery (Stephen King). Just started reading The Stand.

You are in for a treat - IMHO The Stand and It are King's best books.

 

[CraKaJaX]

You are in for a treat - IMHO The Stand and It are King's best books.

His Kindle has all of King's books on it. My mom liked Misery best, which is why I read that one first. As soon as I finished that, I wanted to find out what the internet ranked as King's best. The general consensus was The Stand.... so here I am. Currently on page 55 of 1,437