Now Reading

At what point in Cerberus does Cerberus devolve into a work about how Dave Sims is terrified of "feminist-homosexualists"?

I remember Jaka's Story being universally praised, but upon hearing that praise I dipped into Cerberus in the utter shit wingnut phase, and slowly backed out of the comix store.

  On 9/11/2012 at 2:00 AM, logakght said:

where should I start with "The Sandman"?

page one

cool, first hand testimony of how jim jones managed to convince a bunch of everyday people to join him to build a peaceful utopia out in the jungle then finally drink from a vat of cyanide laced kool aid because the united states government was onto him.

sporadically jumping through these:

Jeff Vandermeer - Veniss Underground

Umberto Eco - The Prague Cemetery, Apocalypse Postponed

John Saul - Shadows

Neal Stephenson - Cobweb

William Gibson - Pattern Recognition

...and some other

GoT: Book #2 - A Clash of Kings

Nearly finished this, seems to have taken near half the book to forge any pace and I was going through the motions a bit however, the second half opens up and explodes in some fashion.

I'm following the approach of reading a book and then watching the series relative to each after finishing them. I don't know how i'll hold up after watching the 2nd series..

I just finished SAS Warlord: Shoot to Kill by Tom Siegriste. It was an interesting read, but not particularly well written or satisfying in the end.

currently reading Jonathan Strange and Mr. Norrel- right now at page 191 from 910... liking it so far

just started working at some book warehouse so I get all kinds of treasures, currently reading:

this

and this

@logakght: I really enjoyed Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, proper magic realism with an intricate story line that pays off in the end. Hope you finish it. hehe

kinda cool book. 3rd time reading it. basically, a bunch of humans are sent to this dyson sphere shaped like a helix to look for a new planet for humans to exist on- then they come across the star wars type universe without "the force"

Just finished Heinlein's 'Stranger in a Strange Land'

Fantastic. Seriously thought-provoking and inspiring. So much original culture.

  On 11/2/2012 at 8:30 PM, Atop said:

@logakght: I really enjoyed Jonathan Strange & Mr Norrell, proper magic realism with an intricate story line that pays off in the end. Hope you finish it. hehe

Same here, really good book.

Reading The Plague Dogs by Richard Adams (author of Watership Down). It's about two dogs who escape from an animal testing laboratory in the Lake District and go on the run in the countryside, trying to survive as wild animals. But they're ruthlessly hunted down by the human authorities who suspect they may be infected with a bioweapon based on the bubonic plague.

I've got mixed feelings about this one. As with Watership Down the 'culture' of the animals is very well-realised and believable, and the suffering they endure is hugely affecting for any animal lover. It's a remarkably sad novel.

But it's let down by a slow pace, some turgid cod-Romantic prose and some especially rubbish dialogue between the human characters. Adams feels the need to describe everybody's tone and physical reaction to each statement, even when it's bleeding obvious from what's being said.

Going to persevere with it, though - I love the dogs too much. Although I don't think things will end well for them.

Ahhh Plague Dogs... one of the most affecting things I remember from my youth!

http://youtu.be/Tp5mcc47xD8

Not read the book though...

I seriously cannot even watch The Plague Dogs

currently still reading Pinker's "The better angels of our nature" on the startling drop in violence in modern times.

have also started "The Secret Race" by Tyler Hamilton who was a tour de france winner and olympic gold medalist who lost both after testing positive for performance enhancing drugs. this is the book that is one of the accounts that drowned Lance and cycling in general as ALL major riders have been doping since the 80s basically. Very very cool to remember back to those early years of the american teams (being a canadian those teams got coverage over here whereas the euro teams were only seen during the tours) starting to get better and then dominate the field.

Also getting primed to read Daniel Kahneman's book "thinking fast and slow". this is some of the work he received the nobel prize in ecomonics for. this is going to be a top-shelf read.

no fiction lately.

toilet reading the last book in this series:

I LIEK.

If you are a fan of A Song of Fire & Ice, you may dig these.

Also currently reading "The History of the Five Nations" by Cadwallader Colden. A bit of local history is nice.

Got a bunch of Faulkner hardbacks so I'm starting with The Sound and the Fury

Finished The Gone-Away World on Saturday, read the Call of Cthulhu last night, probably continuing with HP Lovecraft today. Infinite Jest and Gravity's Rainbow are gathering dust, and will probably continue to do so.

  On 11/9/2012 at 6:48 PM, baph said:

I seriously cannot even watch The Plague Dogs

actually it is pretty boring, but the message is exceptional

Just finished:

Defining Engagement: Japan and Global Contexts, 1640-1868.

Nothing to Envy: Ordinary Lives in North Korea

Dead Aid: Why Aid is not Working and how there is a Better Way for Africa

Defining Engagement was very good, an interesting look at Japanese foreign relations during most of the Tokugawa Period.

Nothing to Envy was sensationalist dogshit.

Dead Aid was interesting (although flawed in parts) in its critique of aid, but fails badly in economic prescriptions for Africa. Also totally ignores importance of political infrastructure and institutions.

Next up - a bunch of books on the agricultural revolution in britain. I'm kind of not really excited about them lol. Economic History is mostly about as exciting as watching paint dry.

  On 11/14/2012 at 1:45 AM, logakght said:

  On 11/9/2012 at 6:48 PM, baph said:

I seriously cannot even watch The Plague Dogs

 

actually it is pretty boring, but the message is exceptional

That's basically how I feel about the book.

I'm going to try to read The Pale King.

have any of you guys read Neal Stephenson? is he good?

  On 11/16/2012 at 2:56 AM, logakght said:

have any of you guys read Neal Stephenson? is he good?

A) Yes

B) Yes

Anathem is probably my favorite SF novel, ever.