What Are You Reading? 2022
08-02-22, 09:02 PM
#301
DVD Talk Legend
Re: What Are You Reading? 2022
Started reading the original trilogy of Miss Peregrine's Home for Peculiar Children several days ago. Read the 1st book, just started on the 2nd: Hollow City. Haven't been this interested in reading for some time.
08-03-22, 05:27 PM
#302
DVD Talk Legend
Re: What Are You Reading? 2022
Read this Tolstoy novella a few days ago. It's an unstinting depiction of a man dying of an unknown illness, presumed to be cancer.
08-05-22, 05:43 PM
#304
Re: What Are You Reading? 2022
Just finished:
The Kaiju Preservation Society by John Scalzi.
I'm a fan of Scalzi's (this is the 9th book of his that I've read). While this is a quick read with a fun central concept, I have to rank this lower among the other Scalzi books. The unrelenting snark of the main character and his/her friends got old pretty quickly. I'm guessing it was a stylistic choice, but I didn't like how Scalzi didn't offer much in describing what things looked like (either the monsters or the characters). And this is a personal taste of mine ... but when reading something for escapist fun, I don't want to hear about COVID or real-world politics (despite my feelings on both seeming in line with Scalzi). And if it's not related to the plot, I'd prefer stories to not be set during the COVID pandemic.
Last edited by brainee; 08-06-22 at 08:43 PM.
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Jason Bovberg (08-08-22)
08-09-22, 08:44 PM
#308
DVD Talk Ultimate Edition
Re: What Are You Reading? 2022
Just finished:
I had fairly high hopes for this one; it got some great reviews on Goodreads, so I thought that it might be fun. I was wrong. I laughed approximately twice.
Up next:
I had fairly high hopes for this one; it got some great reviews on Goodreads, so I thought that it might be fun. I was wrong. I laughed approximately twice.
Up next:
08-13-22, 02:08 AM
#310
Re: What Are You Reading? 2022
Finished:
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. Despite the moderate length, literary aspirations, and multi-character non-linear story I very much enjoyed this. I liked Doerr's style of writing ... descriptive and emotional, while still seeming accessible. You'd think the sci-fi portion would've been my favorite, but I think that ended up being the fall of Constantinople story thread (that could've easily been its own book). And I'm a sucker for books inspired by the love of books. Even though the subject matter seemed like it wasn't my thing, maybe I should give his previous novel (the Pulitzer winning All The Light We Cannot See) a chance.
But not next ... I need something a little lighter. I've started reading Joe Abercrombie's Age of Madness trilogy. I loved The First Law books, and these seem to well received.
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. Despite the moderate length, literary aspirations, and multi-character non-linear story I very much enjoyed this. I liked Doerr's style of writing ... descriptive and emotional, while still seeming accessible. You'd think the sci-fi portion would've been my favorite, but I think that ended up being the fall of Constantinople story thread (that could've easily been its own book). And I'm a sucker for books inspired by the love of books. Even though the subject matter seemed like it wasn't my thing, maybe I should give his previous novel (the Pulitzer winning All The Light We Cannot See) a chance.
But not next ... I need something a little lighter. I've started reading Joe Abercrombie's Age of Madness trilogy. I loved The First Law books, and these seem to well received.
08-15-22, 11:32 AM
#313
DVD Talk Hero
Re: What Are You Reading? 2022
Started A Journal of the Plague Year by Daniel Defoe. When I read it in the 1970s it seemed bizarre.
It describes the Great Plague of London 1665. So far, I've come across an initial government coverup of plague, steadily rising numbers, the wealthy fleeing first, a description of our narrator's decision as a small businessman who is afraid of losing everything if he leaves his shop and warehouse, advertising of false remedies by frauds and quacks, a sudden popularity of mountebanks and astrologers, the government promoting scientific remedies, and medical people dying as they try to care for the sick. This is still well before the peak. The next section will be the shutting of infected houses and barricading of infected neighborhoods.
It describes the Great Plague of London 1665. So far, I've come across an initial government coverup of plague, steadily rising numbers, the wealthy fleeing first, a description of our narrator's decision as a small businessman who is afraid of losing everything if he leaves his shop and warehouse, advertising of false remedies by frauds and quacks, a sudden popularity of mountebanks and astrologers, the government promoting scientific remedies, and medical people dying as they try to care for the sick. This is still well before the peak. The next section will be the shutting of infected houses and barricading of infected neighborhoods.
08-16-22, 12:28 PM
#314
DVD Talk Legend
Re: What Are You Reading? 2022
Currently reading Upton Sinclair's "The Jungle" and a couple of true-crime books.
08-16-22, 12:49 PM
#315
DVD Talk Legend
Re: What Are You Reading? 2022
). But it does give me empathy for those who get caught doing things on social media years ago that they're regretful of now - but that's a topic for another forum ... 
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Norm de Plume (08-16-22)
08-16-22, 06:17 PM
#316
DVD Talk Legend
Re: What Are You Reading? 2022
I read The Jungle in high school and did a "report" on it in the form of a comic book. I recently came across it (buried in a box in the closet) and was shocked at how politically incorrect it was! This was the early 1970s, and racist-type "humor" was widely accepted - and I took full advantage of it! I should seriously burn the thing now so that my chances of running for political office aren't jeopardized ( ). But it does give me empathy for those who get caught doing things on social media years ago that they're regretful of now - but that's a topic for another forum ...
). But it does give me empathy for those who get caught doing things on social media years ago that they're regretful of now - but that's a topic for another forum ... At the risk of stating the obvious, I feel one should not hold people's past remarks and writings to the strictures of modern standards. If it was acceptable at the time, but has since become a slur, give the author a break.
08-16-22, 07:56 PM
#317
DVD Talk Legend
Re: What Are You Reading? 2022
I haven't encountered anything racist, but I'm only 50 pages in. The Lithuanians have just bought their house.
At the risk of stating the obvious, I feel one should not hold people's past remarks and writings to the strictures of modern standards. If it was acceptable at the time, but has since become a slur, give the author a break.
At the risk of stating the obvious, I feel one should not hold people's past remarks and writings to the strictures of modern standards. If it was acceptable at the time, but has since become a slur, give the author a break.
08-17-22, 07:59 AM
#318
DVD Talk Legend
Re: What Are You Reading? 2022
No, no, it was my comic book report on the book that had the racist stuff. "Polish jokes" were "popular" then, and I basically implied that Lithuanians were on par with Poles. Seriously, I cringed when I tried to read it again. (although I think I did a nice job with the cover!)
08-20-22, 09:41 AM
#321
DVD Talk Special Edition
Re: What Are You Reading? 2022
Finished:
Nice to be back in the world of Heat. Book is a good mix of prequel and sequel, and overall I really enjoyed my time with it. I felt the pacing was a little weird, slow in some spots, and a bit too fast in others, especially in the end. Despite that, if you like Heat, you'll find plenty to enjoy here.
Nice to be back in the world of Heat. Book is a good mix of prequel and sequel, and overall I really enjoyed my time with it. I felt the pacing was a little weird, slow in some spots, and a bit too fast in others, especially in the end. Despite that, if you like Heat, you'll find plenty to enjoy here.
08-24-22, 07:08 PM
#324
Re: What Are You Reading? 2022
Finished:
A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie. This is the first of a trilogy ("Age of Madness") that's a direct sequel to the "First Law" trilogy, set a generation in the future with a number of the characters being the adult children of the main characters from the earlier books. So far it's hard to judge because just the first book doesn't seem to tell a complete story. But I like Abercrombie's style and the story picked up in the latter half. So far light on the fantasy, but that's not unusual for the author. I'm feeling a lot more interested after the re-introduction of the character who ended up being the surprise "Big Bad" of the first trilogy. I'll probably move ahead to the next two books ... I'm not good at remembering the character and story details in sequels when I read other things in between. So that will likely be my next month of reading.
A Little Hatred by Joe Abercrombie. This is the first of a trilogy ("Age of Madness") that's a direct sequel to the "First Law" trilogy, set a generation in the future with a number of the characters being the adult children of the main characters from the earlier books. So far it's hard to judge because just the first book doesn't seem to tell a complete story. But I like Abercrombie's style and the story picked up in the latter half. So far light on the fantasy, but that's not unusual for the author. I'm feeling a lot more interested after the re-introduction of the character who ended up being the surprise "Big Bad" of the first trilogy. I'll probably move ahead to the next two books ... I'm not good at remembering the character and story details in sequels when I read other things in between. So that will likely be my next month of reading.
