brainee

Come on people! Start the new thread ... don't keep posting in the previous month's thread

Finished:

The book has an interesting idea that will likely repel a good portion of the male sci-fi audience (a mutation in women gives them all electricity-based superpowers which leads to global female domination).

kd5

Finished Swan Song, started Ender's Game (once again)...

PAG

Just finished:

story

I always forget to post in these threads. I'm in a monthly book Club and usually read each pick when the month allows for it. We try to pick books we wouldn't normally read so we get a taste of fresh voices and different perspectives. Tonight, we're discussing my pick, You Can't Touch My Hair and Other Things I Still Have to Explain by Phoebe Robinson. Listened to the audio, she's hilarious. Tons of Gen X culture, funny sex talk, and an accessible way to talk about the hard realities of ageism, sexism, and racism. I'm hoping to read her new book soon, Everything's Trash But That's Okay.

Nick Danger

Finished Cakes and Ale by W. Somerset Maugham. It was his favorite book, but I liked The Razor's Edge and Ashenden better.

Started It by Stephen King. When you start a book on Kindle, you don't have a physical object in your hand that tells you how big it is. But when I was 170 pages in, I noticed that I was only 13% of the way through. That's a door stopper of a book.

jpcamb

Finished the Subtle Art of not giving a Fuck. Was a little underwhelmed after waiting for 3 months to get it on my kindle from Overdrive.

Now working on Allen Dean Foster' The Relic. I really loved him as a teen and came across this. A decent story about the last human alive and an alien race attempting to help him find earth as well as re-establish the human race.

brainee

Finished:

Entertaining, if a bit lightweight, book from another new (to me) author. It's a sci-fi thriller in the vein of Michael Crichton or Robin Cook (with a bit more political/military action, like a Tom Clancy, Jonathan Maberry, or James Rollins). So if a mash-up of those authors sounds up your alley, this may be a book you enjoy. The "fungus infection" story has been used a lot recently, but fortunately this stays far away from being a zombie story. The storylines of the author's other books sound interesting so I'll have to check them out when I'm in the mood for something easy in this genre.

sford

Finished "The Atlantis Gene", the first book in a trilogy by A.G. Riddle.

What I liked:
+ There were some pretty good things in the book, the best being the settings: Antarctic, Spain, Tibet, Jakarta all were interesting and evocative. On par with A.C. Doyle's descriptions of England (via John Watson).
+ The science/ideas were rather compelling, while I may not buy into them they were well presented and fun.
+ The bad guy was ok, a little melo-dramatic but that's what is called for in this book.

What I didn't like:
- The disjointed nature of the book with the way too many chapters. I was never able to build up a scene in my mind before it completely swaps out to the next scene. Rather than build up tension, it took me completely out of the story. There are something like 160 chapters, some barely 30 seconds long. This would be great in a visual (movie/tv) presentation, and could even be effective in a graphic novel. But in this medium it was just annoying as hell.
- The lead characters: They were simple two dimensional characters, boring and dull. They seemed to be written for a young adult book.
- The circumstances/coincidences: There were so many extreme things that happened. It becomes eye-rolling.
- Dialog: In many cases (esp with the leads) it was embarrassing and trite.

All in all the weaknesses overwhelm the strengths; I doubt that I will listen to the remaining books.

Note the reader was good, a 7 out of 10 rating.

Why So Blu?

Tom Banjo

ScHoLaR oF SMuT

this here is my 'bible' and saving grace from a world full of meaningless mundane conventions

PAG

Just finished:

Bronkster

Finished Slaughterhouse-Five. That was a fun read! Not sure what's next. Probably going to read comics for a day or two.

I saw an article on this, too. Sounded interesting enough for me to order it.

MeridithHartt

An old book, I recently bought from Amazon. Yes, its Black Swan.



Also planning to read "She Lies in Wait". Loves to read camping novels with great thrill.

Bronkster

I read this 14-15 years ago. With my new dog being less than cooperative, I've decided it may be good to read it again.

ScHoLaR oF SMuT

brainee

Finished:


Great stuff, though the translation was off in a few places. Since almost all of the stories are novellas, this is a big meaty collection. Now I have to watch the Chinese blockbuster adaptation of the title story on Netflix.

jpcamb

Steven Kings Wind through the Keyhole /Dark Tower 4.5, another re-read as I am working through the series now with interruptions as other kindle titles I have reserved keep coming available on Overdrive.

Rival11

Finished Pet Sematary - amazing book, can't believe it took me that long to finally read it. If you've never read a Stephen King book before, this is where I recommend you start - effortless read through and it's just so "tight".

Currently reading:

urrutiap

I'm re-reading my old paperback of Star Wars original trilogy. old paperback I bought from Waldebooks back in 1989 or early 1990. Front cover is about to come off. Reading New Hope again. Then ill be reading Star Wars Battlefront II Inferno Squad.

jpcamb

on to David Sedaris's Calypso. Kind of surprisingly moribid and depressing for him as it speaks of his sisters suicide and mothers death in the first few stories. Not what I think of when I see his name/books.

rbrown498

Currently reading (and enjoying immensely):

ScHoLaR oF SMuT

re-reading tracy kidder's pulitzer prize-winning nonfiction book the soul of a new machine (1981)

PAG

Just finished:

DaveNinja

Finished Huey Newton's "Revolutionary Suicide" and started the 2nd book in the Dune series