Author Topic: What books are you reading? (Read 737297 times)

kyrathaba · « **Reply #400 on:** March 21, 2013, 10:13 AM »

the action scenes, specifically with regard to combat, are good. I may cease and desist if it gets too lurid. then again, I may increase my reading pace

ewemoa · « **Reply #401 on:** March 21, 2013, 10:22 AM »

The third book is very interesting but I'm finding it takes a lot
-ewemoa (November 16, 2012, 04:16 AM)

Perhaps you need a second brain to get through the third book?
-Darwin (March 21, 2013, 09:10 AM)

He he -- good one

40hz · « **Reply #402 on:** March 21, 2013, 10:55 AM »

the action scenes, specifically with regard to combat, are good. I may cease and desist if it gets too lurid. then again, I may increase my reading pace
-kyrathaba (March 21, 2013, 10:13 AM)

Well, a faster pace might explain the heavier breathing...

nidusin · « **Reply #403 on:** March 21, 2013, 05:23 PM »

If anyone wants easy, engaging reads that they CAN'T PUT DOWN I have a hearty recommendation here for:
Ernest Cline - Ready Player One.
"It’s the year 2044, and the real world is an ugly place.

Like most of humanity, Wade Watts escapes his grim surroundings by spending his waking hours jacked into the OASIS, a sprawling virtual utopia that lets you be anything you want to be, a place where you can live and play and fall in love on any of ten thousand planets.

And like most of humanity, Wade dreams of being the one to discover the ultimate lottery ticket that lies concealed within this virtual world. For somewhere inside this giant networked playground, OASIS creator James Halliday has hidden a series of fiendish puzzles that will yield massive fortune—and remarkable power—to whoever can unlock them." - http://www.readyplayerone.com/synopsis

I've put half a dozen people onto this book and had rave replies from all. If you survived the eighties and are interested in tech and/or games you'll like it.

And
Jim Butcher - The Dresden Files
"
Harry Dresden – Wizard

Lost items found. Paranormal Investigations.
Consulting. Advice. Reasonable Rates.
No Love Potions, Endless Purses, or
Other Entertainment.
" - The sign on Harry's office door

This series really grabs you. Harry Dresden's sense of humor and sarcastic wit as he thwarts the forces of evil have given me more than my fair share of chuckles. Highly recommended.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #404 on:** March 21, 2013, 05:37 PM »

I have the Dresden Files but haven't yet begun to delve into them. You've sold me on "Ready Player One". I'll look into it.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #405 on:** March 27, 2013, 01:55 PM »

Currently reading Kushiel's Dart, and Legacy of Kings (image below links to my GoodReads page):

kyrathaba · « **Reply #406 on:** March 27, 2013, 04:58 PM »

For any fans of Cory Doctorow, I have over a dozen of his free e-books...

Shades · « **Reply #407 on:** March 28, 2013, 03:46 PM »

I am always interested in adding free ebooks to my collection. Should help battling boredom when waiting for the (second) bus that takes me home.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #408 on:** March 28, 2013, 04:11 PM »

Okay, I'm attaching a zip archive of 16 of Cory Doctorow's books. Most are in .mobi format, but three are .azw files (native Kindle format). If you have a Kindle or use a Kindle app of some sort, you're in good shape. Otherwise, there are converters out there, such as Hamster, that can do conversion to different formats.

Here are the titles:

A Place so Foreign.MOBI
After the Siege.MOBI
All Complex Ecosystems Have Parasites.azw
Content.azw
Craphound.MOBI
Down and Out in the Magic Kingdom.MOBI
Eastern Standard Tribe.MOBI
Ebooks_ Neither E, Nor Books.MOBI
Home Again, Home Again.MOBI
Little Brother.MOBI
Nimby and the Dimension Hoppers.MOBI
Overclocked.azw
Return to Pleasure Island.MOBI
Schnipsel.MOBI
Shadow of the Mothaship.MOBI
Super Man and the Bug Out.MOBI

Shades · « **Reply #409 on:** March 28, 2013, 05:26 PM »

Thanks kyrathaba

kyrathaba · « **Reply #410 on:** March 28, 2013, 05:35 PM »

My pleasure

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #411 on:** March 28, 2013, 05:46 PM »

The Scientific and Tech Doc Viewer at http://www.stdutility.com/ reads them all natively.

It's one reason in the discussion of "who do you like as a PDF viewer" I like that program, because it handles topics like this as a bonus! No icky conversions!

kyrathaba · « **Reply #412 on:** March 28, 2013, 05:58 PM »

Good point, Tao.

Hey, is there an Android version of that Tech Doc Viewer?

dspelley · « **Reply #413 on:** March 28, 2013, 08:27 PM »

What books are you reading? Rommel Drives on Deep Into Egypt

Re-reading this again. When I was first in college in the late 60's, I read all of his poems and novels.

The Affectionate Light Bulb

I have a 75 watt, glare free, long life
Harmony House light bulb in my toilet.
I have been living in the same apartment
for over two years now
and that bulb just keeps burning away.
I believe that it is fond of me.

What books are you reading? Plato and a Platypus Walk Into A Bar

Understanding Philosophy Through Jokes

Emotivism (in the spirit of the season)

A man wrote a letter to the IRS saying, "I have been unable to sleep knowing that I have cheated on my income tax. I have understated my taxable income and have enclosed a check for $150. If I still can't sleep, I will send the rest."

kyrathaba · « **Reply #414 on:** March 29, 2013, 05:40 AM »

@TaoPhoenix: I tried out the Scientific and Text Doc Viewer you referenced. Excellent program. Thanks for the tip!

TaoPhoenix · « **Reply #415 on:** March 29, 2013, 08:33 AM »

@TaoPhoenix: I tried out the Scientific and Text Doc Viewer you referenced. Excellent program. Thanks for the tip!
-kyrathaba (March 29, 2013, 05:40 AM)

You bet. I haven't really tried hard to build a list of mobile format books yet. It's just nice that when one does show up, it's readable.

Meanwhile: So we already have 7 document formats already, and they needed to invent 5 more for mobile?! Bleh.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #416 on:** April 30, 2013, 03:20 PM »

Transcript of Guy Gavriel Kay's responses to many readers in an interview on the Goodreads.com website on 4/30/2013:

I will upload as .txt file...

40hz · « **Reply #417 on:** April 30, 2013, 04:43 PM »

@kyrathababa - out of curiosity...what did you think of Kushiel's Dart?

I've had trouble making up my mind about that one. Even after a second read.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #418 on:** April 30, 2013, 05:08 PM »

@kyrathababa - out of curiosity...what did you think of Kushiel's Dart?

@40hz. To be honest, the author's prose is thickly woven, if you take my meaning. She's obviously got a huge vocabulary and is highly intelligent, but it's one of those novels you really have to concentrate on while reading. I have temporarily laid it aside at 12% done, in order to take up the ten-book Abyssal Plague series. I just started Under The Crimson Sun, the 7th book. The correct reading order for this series is:

01. The Gates of Madness
02. The Mark of Nerath
03. The Temple of Yellow Skulls
04. Oath of Vigilance
05. The Eye of the Chained God
06. Sword of the Gods
07. Under The Crimson Sun
08. Shadowbane
09. Last Legend of Gedrin Shadowbane
10. Chosen of the Sword.

I'll have to get back to you on my final opinion of Kushiel's Dart. What did you think of it?

40hz · « **Reply #419 on:** April 30, 2013, 05:44 PM »

I'll have to get back to you on my final opinion of Kushiel's Dart. What did you think of it?
-kyrathaba (April 30, 2013, 05:08 PM)

"Purple prose" aside? (I have a large vocabulary and I very much like James Joyce and Henry James so I don't have a problem with dense writing styles.) Truth be told, I haven't decided if it's actually a clever fantasy story; or yet another example of an exercise in "grad school eroticism" masquerading as a scifi/fantasy novel.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #420 on:** April 30, 2013, 05:50 PM »

From what I've gathered from the first three or four chapters, it's definitely eroticism, but with a veneer of fantasy. Having read it twice, can you tell me if it gets so engrossed in the eroticism that the story suffers? I don't want to read a Fifty Shades of Gray clone (albeit better written). I know that there are several more books in the Kushiel series.

40hz · « **Reply #421 on:** April 30, 2013, 06:06 PM »

It's probably worth a read. As I said, I'm still not sure - and I haven't read the subsequent installments which fans have told me are better once you have the background in the first book to fall back on. It's not so much the erotic aspects (which I have no problem with if they're well written and have a good plot or storyline behind them) as I am with the fallen angel motif and (to me) the heavy lifting of societal concepts found in Zothique by Clark Ashton Smith.

I guess I'm saying I can't decide if it's actually good - or highly derivative.

re: 50 Shades of Gray

Read it and I'm not impressed. I found it rather predictable and juvenile. Other novelists have handled the subject far better, so I don't see what the big deal was for so many. Of course, there were people who thought 9-1/2 Weeks was a masterpiece, so no surprise there I suppose.

IMHO if you're going to write an erotic story - write a good erotic story. (It's a lot more difficult than it sounds.) 50 Shades never gets beyond kinky. And like Terry Pratchett observed: 'Erotic' uses a feather - 'kinky,' the entire chicken.

kyrathaba · « **Reply #422 on:** April 30, 2013, 06:34 PM »

re: 50 Shades of Gray

Read it and I'm not impressed. I found it rather predictable and juvenile.

I only read a few chapters of the first book before throwing it away. Crappily written for the ignorant masses. Thus, it appeals to the masses in the same way that all the poorly scripted, overacted soap operas do.

app103 · « **Reply #423 on:** April 30, 2013, 07:58 PM »

Starting on this, the next time my daughter kicks me off the computer.

My daughter borrowed a box full of books from a friend of hers, and it will be awhile till she gets to these, so I am borrowing them from her for a bit.

I saw the movie and liked it, and heard the book was so much better, so it's one of those things I feel compelled to read.

allen · « **Reply #424 on:** April 30, 2013, 10:17 PM »

I'm reading Shattered Hourglass, the third (and hopefully final) book in the Day by Day Armageddon series. The first two books were great. It was all presented in diary format, from the POV so the story telling really was day by day and other than zombies walking around, it was depicted very believably. It was a fresh take on the genre.

Book 3 throws all of that out. Suddenly, it's omniscient third person narration with countless points of view, few of which are familiar characters from the previous books. What started as survival horror is now a mashup of government conspiracy, tactical shooter and science fiction. Yeah, there's aliens in it now.

Utter crap. But I've got to finish. . .