What are you reading? 2020
07-12-20, 11:08 AM
#128
DVD Talk Legend
Re: What are you reading? 2020
Finished:
Robin Hobb - Ship of Destiny
The series started out slow and somewhat unlikable, but really picked up steam in the second and third books.
Started:
Robin Hobb - Dragon Keeper
The serpents interested me the least out of all the players in the Liveship books, but I imagine Hobb will find a way to wrap me up in whatever happens.
Robin Hobb - Ship of Destiny
The series started out slow and somewhat unlikable, but really picked up steam in the second and third books.
Started:
Robin Hobb - Dragon Keeper
The serpents interested me the least out of all the players in the Liveship books, but I imagine Hobb will find a way to wrap me up in whatever happens.
07-15-20, 07:43 AM
#131
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Re: What are you reading? 2020
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....4,203,200_.jpg
A Strange Manuscript found in a Copper Cylinder, Special Illustrated Edition (Lost World-Lost Race Classics) (Volume 5) Paperback – Illustrated, April 12, 2015
Last edited by JANK; 07-15-20 at 07:55 AM.
07-16-20, 08:51 AM
#132
DVD Talk Hero
Thread Starter
Re: What are you reading? 2020
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....4,203,200_.jpg
A Strange Manuscript found in a Copper Cylinder, Special Illustrated Edition (Lost World-Lost Race Classics) (Volume 5) Paperback – Illustrated, April 12, 2015
A Strange Manuscript found in a Copper Cylinder, Special Illustrated Edition (Lost World-Lost Race Classics) (Volume 5) Paperback – Illustrated, April 12, 2015
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JANK (07-16-20)
07-16-20, 09:08 AM
#133
DVD Talk Hero
Thread Starter
Re: What are you reading? 2020
Read more of the Judge Dee books by Robert van Gulik. Every book in this group has been excellent.
The Haunted Monastery
The Red Pavillion
The Lacquer Screen
The Emperor's Pearl
The Monkey and the Tiger
The Willow Pattern
Judge Dee has four assistants on his staff. In these books, all but one of the assistants are off-stage. Each book has a different assistant, showing his individual style of investigation.
The Haunted Monastery
The Red Pavillion
The Lacquer Screen
The Emperor's Pearl
The Monkey and the Tiger
The Willow Pattern
Judge Dee has four assistants on his staff. In these books, all but one of the assistants are off-stage. Each book has a different assistant, showing his individual style of investigation.
07-16-20, 10:53 AM
#134
Re: What are you reading? 2020
Still reading:
― Charles Dickens, Great Expectations
Joe made the fire and swept the hearth, and then we went to the door to listen for the chaise-cart. It was a dry cold night, and the wind blew keenly, and the frost was white and hard. A man would die to-night of lying out on the marshes, I thought. And then I looked at the stars, and considered how awful if would be for a man to turn his face up to them as he froze to death, and see no help or pity in all the glittering multitude.
07-16-20, 11:45 AM
#135
DVD Talk Platinum Edition
Re: What are you reading? 2020
Originally Posted by JANK View Post
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....4,203,200_.jpg
A Strange Manuscript found in a Copper Cylinder, Special Illustrated Edition (Lost World-Lost Race Classics) (Volume 5) Paperback – Illustrated, April 12, 2015
Yeah I recommend it. A Strange Manuscript found in a Copper Cylinder fits right in with the Jules Verne/HG Wells vibe and has that "steampunk' Victorian air going through it. I should mention the Edgar Rice Burroughs elements too. The death-cult culture is elaborated on quite extensively but is interesting in how it makes perfect sense if you were in that society. So along with the action, you can mull the philosophical subtext if you wish
https://images-na.ssl-images-amazon....4,203,200_.jpg
A Strange Manuscript found in a Copper Cylinder, Special Illustrated Edition (Lost World-Lost Race Classics) (Volume 5) Paperback – Illustrated, April 12, 2015
Yeah I recommend it. A Strange Manuscript found in a Copper Cylinder fits right in with the Jules Verne/HG Wells vibe and has that "steampunk' Victorian air going through it. I should mention the Edgar Rice Burroughs elements too. The death-cult culture is elaborated on quite extensively but is interesting in how it makes perfect sense if you were in that society. So along with the action, you can mull the philosophical subtext if you wish
07-16-20, 01:10 PM
#136
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: What are you reading? 2020
Given the current crisis, I finally managed to finish James Ellroy's latest, The Storm. Generally, I try and wait to read his books so I can read whatever "series" he is writing in a row, but knowing that he's usually 4-5 between books (and he's getting up there in age), I just felt like reading this. It's pretty great, albeit not as great as Perfidia, or the previous trilogy he wrote. Yet oftentimes I appreciate his books more when I can read them all in context to each other. But yeah, if someone asked me to recommend an Ellroy book to read, this wouldn't be it...I'd recommend staring with White Jazz, or, I guess, L.A. Confidential...But I think White Jazz is the book where he really came into his own and really, really developed his current style...Which is awesome...I still can't believe that HBO is taking so long to adapt his previous L.A. trilogy...I believe Colin Hanks is still involved...That would make an amazing series...Someone needs to get there act together and just DO IT...
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tboogie (07-27-20)
07-18-20, 01:40 PM
#139
Re: What are you reading? 2020
Finished:
It won both the Nebula and Hugo awards for best novel of 2019. I don't think it was for me though. The premise was intriguing: an alternate history of the 50's "Space Race" where an extinction-level meteorite strike accelerates the time table and increases the stakes. But the majority of the book focused on women's lib melodrama (not that there's anything wrong with that, but that wasn't a topic I wanted to read). And since this is a prequel to a Hugo-winning novelette, there wasn't any suspense about where the story was going. There's a follow-up novel to this (as part of a duology) but I don't know if I'm going to bother.
Also finished:
I was braced for disappointment, since reader response seemed much more negative compared to the author's other books. Judged on its own, it was an ok popcorn sci-fi/horror story. This might be one of the rare things that makes a better movie than novel, since the "zombies on the moon" idea seems to lend itself to striking visuals (while things like character development are relatively shallow). I get the impression some negative reader responses were because of this being promoted as linked to Cline's other books, 14 and The Fold (when it turned out the link is extremely weak and this is pretty much a stand-alone book).
It won both the Nebula and Hugo awards for best novel of 2019. I don't think it was for me though. The premise was intriguing: an alternate history of the 50's "Space Race" where an extinction-level meteorite strike accelerates the time table and increases the stakes. But the majority of the book focused on women's lib melodrama (not that there's anything wrong with that, but that wasn't a topic I wanted to read). And since this is a prequel to a Hugo-winning novelette, there wasn't any suspense about where the story was going. There's a follow-up novel to this (as part of a duology) but I don't know if I'm going to bother.
Also finished:
I was braced for disappointment, since reader response seemed much more negative compared to the author's other books. Judged on its own, it was an ok popcorn sci-fi/horror story. This might be one of the rare things that makes a better movie than novel, since the "zombies on the moon" idea seems to lend itself to striking visuals (while things like character development are relatively shallow). I get the impression some negative reader responses were because of this being promoted as linked to Cline's other books, 14 and The Fold (when it turned out the link is extremely weak and this is pretty much a stand-alone book).
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tboogie (07-27-20)
07-24-20, 11:22 AM
#142
DVD Talk Legend
Re: What are you reading? 2020
Finished Mary Trump's Too Much and Never Enough. I think the prologue was the most interesting part. She's not the most exciting writer, and a number of times I felt like entire paragraphs of explanation had been left out. Overall, not a book I would I would recommend.
After this and I Know This Much is True, I'm really ready for something a tad lighter in tone!
After this and I Know This Much is True, I'm really ready for something a tad lighter in tone!
07-25-20, 10:59 AM
#143
DVD Talk Hero
Thread Starter
Re: What are you reading? 2020
I read two more Travis McGee books by John D MacDonald: The Empty Copper Sea and Free Fall in Crimson.
Free Fall in Crimson was the first of these books I ever read. I was a teenager. The disturbing scenes made a big impression on me. They're still pretty sharp.
It's fun reading the whole series in order to watch how things changed. Florida got a lot more crowded and a lot less fun between 1964 and 1982. Drugs became a big business. Travis has lots of sex, and at the beginning it's written as a cool Playboy wish fufillment, but when casual sex becomes common in America, it's written as more complicated and sometimes unsatisfying. Retail has gone from free standing downtown stores to a corporate shopping malls. But land developers are a problem the whole time.
Free Fall in Crimson was the first of these books I ever read. I was a teenager. The disturbing scenes made a big impression on me. They're still pretty sharp.
It's fun reading the whole series in order to watch how things changed. Florida got a lot more crowded and a lot less fun between 1964 and 1982. Drugs became a big business. Travis has lots of sex, and at the beginning it's written as a cool Playboy wish fufillment, but when casual sex becomes common in America, it's written as more complicated and sometimes unsatisfying. Retail has gone from free standing downtown stores to a corporate shopping malls. But land developers are a problem the whole time.
Last edited by Nick Danger; 07-25-20 at 11:05 AM.
07-27-20, 02:59 PM
#146
DVD Talk Hall of Fame
Re: What are you reading? 2020
I'm about 2/3 the way through
It's quite good actually. And it's written as if from different sources - memos, a chronicle, a couple people's diary/journal, sitreps, etc.
It's quite good actually. And it's written as if from different sources - memos, a chronicle, a couple people's diary/journal, sitreps, etc.
07-31-20, 01:40 AM
#149
Re: What are you reading? 2020
A couple of finished books to close out July:
A cross between The Shining and Silence of the Lambs (with young boys being kidnapped and murdered instead of young women). But it was really well-written with an emotional kick which elevated it for me above more routine police thrillers. Also ...
Another very strong book by an author I just discovered recently. I really like the backdrop of a turn-of-the-20th century vaudeville troupe for an epic urban fantasy (with touches of horror).
A cross between The Shining and Silence of the Lambs (with young boys being kidnapped and murdered instead of young women). But it was really well-written with an emotional kick which elevated it for me above more routine police thrillers. Also ...
Another very strong book by an author I just discovered recently. I really like the backdrop of a turn-of-the-20th century vaudeville troupe for an epic urban fantasy (with touches of horror).
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Pointyskull (07-31-20)
07-31-20, 11:52 PM
#150
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: What are you reading? 2020
I’m a sucker for time travel stories. This was a good, fun fluff read, but not something that’ll stick with me over the years. Basic story is there’s these time cops from 2150ish that monitor for timeline changes (usually made by people trying to make their ancestors wealthy) and go back to correct the changes and keep the timeline on track as much as possible. An agent on a mission to the 1990s ends up having his “space/time GPS” damaged, leaving him stuck. So he starts a new career and family. 18 years later, his old company finally finds him, and him having a family (especially a daughter that was never meant to exist) creates issues since it violated his non-interference oath. Hijinks ensue. It’s a fun read if you go in knowing it’s not high-brow literature. It’d probably make for a good limited series on a streaming service.
