What Book Are You Currently Reading?

[JBond]

Here's the funny thing, guys. I just finished watching "The Road" about an hour ago.

[PsYkOoOoO]

Originally Posted by JBond

Here's the funny thing, guys. I just finished watching "The Road" about an hour ago.

I liked the movie. In fact it was my top 10 of that year. They did a great job with the cellar scene.

[JBond]

Originally Posted by FranklinTard

and i'm curious how you feel about cyberpunk genre jbond? i didn't like neuromancer when i first read it, but i picked it up again and really enjoyed it. same with snow crash by neal stephenson, noticed diamond age is also quite low on your list, and neuromancer is outright disrespected! not a fan of the genre i take it?

It's weird, because the idea of cyberpunk is inviting to me, but as you've noticed, I haven't had much success with it. I feel like Neuromancer must have been a masterpiece for its time, but it was too late in my life to enjoy it now. The Diamond Age had some really incredible ideas and things in it and I really liked it. I wish there were more books about nanotechnology because it's goign to be very real one day. But keep in mind the top half of that list is all still very good. I should add star ratings to those...

And I'm going to get to Snow Crash one of these days.

[Brock Landers]

Originally Posted by PsYkOoOoO

As I am reading The Road, I did get the feeling that the book isn't going to work on repeated reading. I've (tried to) read his Border Trilogy and I couldn't get pass the first book. In fact I don't remember what the hell happened in the first book.

Dude, I'm telling you: Blood Meridian. It's unbelievably dark, and yet kind of, weirdly, beautiful. One of the greatest books I've ever read.

[PsYkOoOoO]

Originally Posted by Brock Landers

Dude, I'm telling you: Blood Meridian. It's unbelievably dark, and yet kind of, weirdly, beautiful. One of the greatest books I've ever read.

I will get to it when I am over with this science fiction/fantasy phase.

[JBond]

Here we go. Ratings, for perspective.

Startide Rising – David Brin - ****
Ender’s Game – Orson Scott Card - ****
Hyperion – Dan Simmons - ****
Rendezvous with Rama – Arthur C. Clarke - ****
A Deepness in the Sky – Vernor Vinge - ****
Blue Mars – Kim Stanley Robinson - ****
Foundation’s Edge – Isaac Asimov - ****
Dune – Frank Herbert - ****
The Demolished Man – Alfred Bester - ****
The Forever War – Joe Haldeman - ****
The Gods Themselves – Isaac Asimov - ****
Spin – Robert Charles Wilson - ****
Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire – J.K. Rowling - ****

To Your Scattered Bodies Go – Jose Philip Farmer - ***.5
The Moon is a Harsh Mistress – Robert A. Heinlein - ***.5
The Mule (Part II of Foundation and Empire) – Isaac Asimov - ***.5
The Uplift War – David Brin - ***.5
Way Station – Clifford D. Simak - ***.5
Speaker for the Dead – Orson Scott Card - ***.5

American Gods – Neil Gaiman - ***
A Fire Upon the Deep – Vernor Vinge - ***
Gateway – Frederik Pohl - ***
Paladin of Souls – Lois McMaster Bujold - ***
The Diamond Age – Neal Stephenson - ***
The Graveyard Book – Neil Gaiman - ***
Jonathan Strange & Mr Norell – Susanna Clarke - ***
Hominids – Robert J. Sawyer - ***

To Say Nothing of the Dog – Connie Willis - **.5
A Canticle for Leibowitz – Walter M. Miller, Jr. - **.5
Fountains of Paradise – Arthur C. Clarke - **.5
Forever Peace – Joe Haldeman - **.5
Double Star – Robert A. Heinlein - **.5
The Yiddish Policeman’s Union – Michael Chabon - **.5
The Big Time – Fritz Leiber - **.5
Green Mars – Kim Stanley Robinson - **.5
Lord of Light – Roger Zelazny - **.5
Neuromancer – William Gibson - **.5
Ringworld – Larry Niven - **.5
This Immortal – Roger Zelazny - **.5
The Windup Girl – Paolo Bacigalupi - **.5

The Dispossessed – Ursula K. Le Guin - **
Where Late the Sweet Birds Sang – Kate Wilhelm - **
The Forever Machine – Mark Clifton & Frank Riley - **
The Man in the High Castle – Philip K. Dick - **
Starship Troopers – Robert A. Heinlein - **
A Case of Conscience – James Blish - **
The Vor Game – Lois McMaster Bujold - **
Fahrenheit 451 – Ray Bradbury - **
The Snow Queen – Joan D. Vinge - **
Farmer in the Sky – Robert A. Heinlein - **
Left Hand of Darkness – Ursula K. Le Guin - **
Dreamsnake – Vonda N. McIntyre - **
Barrayar – Lois McMaster Bujold - **
Doomsday Book – Connie Willis - **
The Wanderer – Fritz Leiber - **

Rainbows End – Vernor Vinge - *.5
Stranger in a Strange Land – Robert A. Heinlein - *.5
Downbelow Station – C.J. Cherryh - *.5

[JBond]

And while we're talking about me and my list, I want to point out something upsetting I've noticed. I highlighted all of the books with female authors in red.

Awkward...

[PsYkOoOoO]

Do you guys sometimes feel that Nebula and Hugo are like the Oscars? Meaning, not always making the best choices?

[JBond]

Originally Posted by PsYkOoOoO

Do you guys sometimes feel that Nebula and Hugo are like the Oscars? Meaning, not always making the best choices?

Definitely.

http://www.thehugoawards.org/2012/04...allots-issued/

For $50 you can help decide which ones win.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, though a great book, somehow beat GRRM's A Storm of Swords in 2003.

[PsYkOoOoO]

Originally Posted by JBond

Definitely.

http://www.thehugoawards.org/2012/04...allots-issued/

For $50 you can help decide which ones win.

Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, though a great book, somehow lost to GRRM's A Storm of Swords in 2003.

You mean it BEAT A Storm of Swords.

[JBond]

Oops, yep.

[Ramplate]

Halfway through The Great Influenza and its a dry history lesson, talking about the history of the science of detecting germs and curing illnesses

[Tyrion The Imp]

I am currently reading a Feast for Crows, 4th book of Song of Ice and Fire series.

AMAZING BOOK, amazing series. Love the books more than the show of course.

As you can see, Tyrion is my favorite character

[Dhamon22]

Nice. Welcome to the club.

[New GL of sector 2814]

Just finished 32 Fangs: A Final Vampire Tale by David Wellington. I have been waiting for almost a year for this one and it didn't disappoint.

[Justin]

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments by David Foster Wallace

[PsYkOoOoO]

I've just read 50 pages of Neuromancer by William Gibson and I swear, I cannot go on reading this thing. The 50 pages felt more like 200 pages of reading, and I couldn't understand most of what was happening. Everything was lost between the technical jargons and the weak character development. Besides, the characters all talk in a weird, unrealistic way that sucked me right out of the story. I had to reread every dialogue three times before vaguely understanding what the hell they were talking about. Conversations also jumped from one point to the next without logic, and it became really tough to follow for me. I don't care if William Gibson came up with the words "Cyberspace" or "Matrix", and I really don't care if he's the father of cyberpunk. If I can't even get by 50 pages of this book, then it isn't for me.

For example, one character said, "Wire it into your Sendai here, you can access live or recorded simstim without having to jack out of the matrix." Gibson throws words like "Sendai", "Simstim" and "Matrix" around without telling you what the hell it is. If you read that sentence and felt all confused, I was just as confused as you. Even with context, that sentence doesn't make any sense to me as a reader. I don't have to be led by a leash as a reader, but don't throw a bunch of techno-babble at me and expect me to know what it is right off the bat. Even in a science fiction universe, who the hell talks like that? I just don't see what everybody is seeing about this book, that's all. Unlike The Man in the High Castle, which I read but didn't care for, this one made me angry for how convoluted it was. The Man in the High Castle was easy to digest, but it just didn't lead to many places. This one made me feel like I was chewing on a brick.

[morpheus1987]

I finished The Foundation Trilogy. I'm now moving on to Interview with the Vampire by Ann Rice.

[Brock Landers]

The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway

second time reading it.

[JBond]

Originally Posted by morpheus1987

I finished The Foundation Trilogy. I'm now moving on to Interview with the Vampire by Ann Rice.

The fourth one, "Foundation's Edge" is pretty damn awesome.

[Justin]

Originally Posted by Justin

A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again: Essays and Arguments by David Foster Wallace

So far, I'm about 100 pages in and I don't think I can stomach much more. I've given DFW plenty of chances to prove himself, yet each time I end up throwing it against the wall. He's a terrific writer, but I also think there's such thing as over-writing....and this isn't even the best example. It's sad, though, since I thought I would've been really crazy about his work.

[FranklinTard]

is prelude to foundation worth reading at all? saw it at half price books the other day and considered grabbing it.

[JBond]

Ehhhh, that's only for the most devote of fans. No. Foundation and Earth is pretty crummy, too. But the last one, Forward the Foundation, is surprisingly good and apt at finishing the series. It's 25% auto-biographical and with Asimov knowing at this point that he was going to die soon, there are some pretty moving bits about aging and going full circle. It's hard to describe, but it was a very interesting read.

[PsYkOoOoO]

Question: In what conditions are your books? Are they in mint condition, or do they look read? Do you guys ever lend your books to anybody?

[JBond]

I keep mine very neat. I'll lend them, but I don't like doing it cause they come back pretty riffled.