What are you reading? (November 2019)
11-02-19, 12:19 PM
#1
DVD Talk Hero
Thread Starter
What are you reading? (November 2019)
Reading A Hymn Before Battle by John Ringo.
Baen Books has a huge cache of free novels, but most of their military science fiction is badly written. I've stopped a quarter of the way through a lot of those books. A Hymn Before Battle has good writing and interesting characters! Dang! Earth is in the middle of a peaceful federation of planets. They're all nonviolent herbivores, and don't trust us enough to contact us. But they're being invaded, and they need soldiers, they came to us. Humans are great at violence. Their secret plan is to win the war but have 90% losses of human soldiers, just to be on the safe side.
Finished The Narrow Corner by W. Somerset Maugham.
I'm still enjoying his books. I wonder why he's gone out of fashion. A middle-aged English doctor living in colonial China hitches a ride home from Indonesia on a sailing boat with a couple of untrustworthy characters. But they're interesting people with complex motivations, so the doctor enjoys being with them.
Got the thread started on the second day of the month.
Baen Books has a huge cache of free novels, but most of their military science fiction is badly written. I've stopped a quarter of the way through a lot of those books. A Hymn Before Battle has good writing and interesting characters! Dang! Earth is in the middle of a peaceful federation of planets. They're all nonviolent herbivores, and don't trust us enough to contact us. But they're being invaded, and they need soldiers, they came to us. Humans are great at violence. Their secret plan is to win the war but have 90% losses of human soldiers, just to be on the safe side.
Finished The Narrow Corner by W. Somerset Maugham.
I'm still enjoying his books. I wonder why he's gone out of fashion. A middle-aged English doctor living in colonial China hitches a ride home from Indonesia on a sailing boat with a couple of untrustworthy characters. But they're interesting people with complex motivations, so the doctor enjoys being with them.
Got the thread started on the second day of the month.
11-03-19, 08:46 AM
#2
Banned
Re: What are you reading? November 2019.
two books i bought this past Friday since i was out of town
went to the Barnes and Noble store and bought Hyperion along with Star Wars Force Awakens novelization. Been a long long time since i read Hyperion back when i was a high schooler in the mid late 1990s.
also books im reading for the entire month of November
Wheel of Time Great Hunt. yep still reading it.
Star Wars Aftermath Life Debt
Star Wars Aftermath Empire's End
Star Wars Bounty Hunter Wars
went to the Barnes and Noble store and bought Hyperion along with Star Wars Force Awakens novelization. Been a long long time since i read Hyperion back when i was a high schooler in the mid late 1990s.
also books im reading for the entire month of November
Wheel of Time Great Hunt. yep still reading it.
Star Wars Aftermath Life Debt
Star Wars Aftermath Empire's End
Star Wars Bounty Hunter Wars
11-04-19, 08:28 PM
#3
DVD Talk Reviewer/Moderator
Join Date: Jul 2007
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Re: What are you reading? November 2019.
I am rocking Ship of Magic by Robin Hobb, first in the Liveship Traders trilogy, from her massive collection of fantasy triolgies. As good as expected.
11-06-19, 06:52 PM
#5
Re: What are you reading? (November 2019)
Finished:
I took a break from reading to get a better count for the October Horror Movie Challenge. And I kind of think I won't be doing that anymore. Reading lets me segue much nicer into sleep than watching tv. And I like reading. Anyway, I enjoyed this book. Much less a ghost story than I was expecting and more of a gothic murder mystery (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).
I took a break from reading to get a better count for the October Horror Movie Challenge. And I kind of think I won't be doing that anymore. Reading lets me segue much nicer into sleep than watching tv. And I like reading. Anyway, I enjoyed this book. Much less a ghost story than I was expecting and more of a gothic murder mystery (which isn't necessarily a bad thing).
11-11-19, 06:35 AM
#6
Re: What are you reading? (November 2019)
I read this in college but I did not remember much. Odd that Worf, Picard, and Troi are featured on the cover since the story is pretty much Geordi and Data. Geordi, quit doubting yourself so much.
11-12-19, 11:33 PM
#9
Re: What are you reading? (November 2019)
Finished:
An enjoyable urban fantasy (with touches of horror), although it's a mix a familiar plot elements from other stories. Goodreads doesn't allow for fractional ratings, but I figure this is around 3.5/5 for me. Supposedly the beginning of a series, but thankfully this seems like a very complete story as is.
An enjoyable urban fantasy (with touches of horror), although it's a mix a familiar plot elements from other stories. Goodreads doesn't allow for fractional ratings, but I figure this is around 3.5/5 for me. Supposedly the beginning of a series, but thankfully this seems like a very complete story as is.
11-14-19, 11:04 PM
#10
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: What are you reading? (November 2019)
My pre-order of Gwendy’s Magic Feather by Richard Chizmer unexpectedly arrived today. So I’ll probably revisit Gwendy’s Button Box and then move on to the new one.
i think this is officially the first time someone other than King has written a book set in his fictional universe. Not counting the Dark Tower comics, and Joe Hill’s Easter eggs, of course.
i think this is officially the first time someone other than King has written a book set in his fictional universe. Not counting the Dark Tower comics, and Joe Hill’s Easter eggs, of course.
11-21-19, 04:45 AM
#12
Re: What are you reading? (November 2019)
Just read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I highly recommend it. For those who don't know, it's a novel first released in 1931 which features a dystopian society where people are controlled by a totalitarian government. However, they are not controlled through force, pain or fear. They are controlled through pleasure. Citizens of Brave New World are conditioned to love their slavery. They get pleasure in exchange for freedom. Personal responsibility or any sort of individuality is discouraged in this society, even long-term relationships between individual people are considered perversions from the norm. It's an interesting book and I found that it mirrors our own world in many ways.
11-21-19, 09:41 PM
#14
DVD Talk Legend
Re: What are you reading? (November 2019)
Just read Brave New World by Aldous Huxley. I highly recommend it. For those who don't know, it's a novel first released in 1931 which features a dystopian society where people are controlled by a totalitarian government. However, they are not controlled through force, pain or fear. They are controlled through pleasure. Citizens of Brave New World are conditioned to love their slavery. They get pleasure in exchange for freedom. Personal responsibility or any sort of individuality is discouraged in this society, even long-term relationships between individual people are considered perversions from the norm. It's an interesting book and I found that it mirrors our own world in many ways.
A Warning by Anonymous arrived today, so I started into that. Never read a political type book so this is a change for me.
11-28-19, 03:15 PM
#17
DVD Talk Hero
Thread Starter
Re: What are you reading? (November 2019)
Orwell was a journalist, and he can turn a fine phrase. He's concerned about 20th century totalitarians. It's bleak.
Huxley was a philosopher, and was more interested in how technology would affect what it means to be human. Everyone is a test tube baby, designed in vitro and hypnotically programmed to fit perfectly into their slot in society. A group of friends is happy with their jobs, happy with their social class, happy to have casual sex, and happy to watch the latest porn at the theater. An outsider, a savage who's read Shakespeare, comes in their little world and causes confusion.
11-28-19, 03:20 PM
#18
DVD Talk Hero
Thread Starter
Re: What are you reading? (November 2019)
Reading Galactic Derelict by Andre Norton. It was a gift. I'm not enjoying it, but I'm going to plow through to the end. I'm reading analytically to figure out what's wrong with it.
