Book Barn Goons discussion
Recent Reads?
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I am reading Jack McDevitt's "Seeker". I love this book. I have been reading some heavy fiction lately (Neal Stephen's "Quicksilver" and such), but this was an easy fun read. I started yesterday afternoon. I will finish it before I go to bed tonight.Basically, a lost colony of humanity. Excellent fun as archeology, science, and good old sluething works to solve a 9000 year old mystery.
Pretty ugly woman...http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/David_Mc...
Its quite a compelling read so far. Also, Abigail is the best wife of all time.
The Graveyard Book by Neil Gaiman. I know most Goons in the Book Barn hate Gaiman, but the book was excellent, although a bit underwritten (it's a rare thing when a work of fantasy is too short - I'm used to reading doorstops).
John Douglas boasts that he is the inspiration behind the Jack Crawford character in Red Dragon and Silence of the Lambs. I thought Mindhunter was an interesting book but I thought Douglas was cheap to use best selling fiction and movies to promote his book on real life murders. I tend to avoid the true life crime genre as I dislike how the authors seem to revel in the gory aspects of tragic events.
Just finished the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. It was good enough for me to say that Brandon Sanderson is now my favorite fantasy author.
I recently finished Oryx & Crake and god damn can Margaret Atwood build a believable dystopian future.
Daniel wrote: "Just finished the Mistborn series by Brandon Sanderson. It was good enough for me to say that Brandon Sanderson is now my favorite fantasy author."Drop by the Sanderson thread sometime!
Mike wrote: "I recently finished Oryx & Crake and god damn can Margaret Atwood build a believable dystopian future."
I think it'll be time for me to reread this soon. It's been a few years.
As for me, I just finished reading Ender's Game for the first time in a while. As usual, I forgot just how much I love this book.
Mike wrote: "I recently finished Oryx & Crake and god damn can Margaret Atwood build a believable dystopian future."You know there's a sequel, right? It's called Year of the Flood.
I know I can google it and sift through mounds of relevant info, but are the other books in the series worth checking out? After I read Ender's Game I went right out and bought Empire which was a huge mistake.
Joanna wrote: "You know there's a sequel, right? It's called Year of the Flood."I actually just realized that when I added it to goodreads! "Trilogy? Whaaaaaa?"
Mike wrote: "I know I can google it and sift through mounds of relevant info, but are the other books in the series worth checking out? After I read Ender's Game I went right out and bought Empire which was a h..."If you talk about Ender series, then "Speaker for the Dead" is still quite good. "Xenocide" and "Children of the Mind" are also quite good, but they are different than the first book. So a lot of people who read them and expect more of the same that was in "Ender's Game" end up dissapointed.
There are also several more books in the same timeline as the first, but i never bothered reading them.
Eugene wrote: "Mike wrote: "I know I can google it and sift through mounds of relevant info, but are the other books in the series worth checking out? After I read Ender's Game I went right out and bought Empire ..."There's also a parallel series from Bean's perspective, starting with "Ender's Shadow." It's been a while since I read it, but I remember it being good. I haven't read past the first one in that series, and I've only read "Ender's Game" and "Speaker for the Dead" of the regular Ender series.
The Tin Drum is pretty good you guys. Definitely worth a read if you've ever read Midnight's Children or A Prayer for Owen Meany, both of which were heavily inspired by Tin Drum, albeit in different ways.
Chamberk wrote: "The Tin Drum is pretty good you guys. Definitely worth a read if you've ever read Midnight's Children or A Prayer for Owen Meany, both of which were heavily inspired by Tin Drum, albeit in differe..."Is it like the movie? I saw that back in college and remember it being pretty bleak.
I haven't seen the movie, but the book can be pretty bleak sometimes. It tends to have a really black sense of humor throughout, though, so even the nastiest and weirdest stuff mentioned is funny in a way.
Currently reading Blood Meridian. Less bleak than The Road, but damn if it is not more... Gruesome? McCarthy's dialog is kind of hard to get used to for me, but I am enjoying it quite a bit. Goddamn strong stuff.
Blood Meridian's incredible, and, yes, extremely gruesome. I had to put the book down a couple of times because it was so grotesquely violent, which is saying something considering how desensitized to violence in media I've become. It helps that McCarthy's prose is simply masterful, so a scene at which I wouldn't bat an eye from another author causes me to wince when he writes it.It's been a couple of years. Maybe I'll reread it sometime. God knows that book deserves multiple reads.
I just finished Sex on the Moon. Its the amazing story of how 1 person stole the most priceless and the most illegal thing on earth. The writing was incredible.
Finished Stephen Leacock's Sunshine Sketches of a Little Town earlier today. It's a series of stories - most of them funny - about a small town in Canada at the turn of the last century. It's not the best thing I've read, but I'd recommend it to anyone looking for a light, amusing read.
Since I just finished Blood Meridian (on Kindle) should I continue with more McCarthy (got All the Pretty Horses, Suttree and Child of God on paperback), or something lighter?
I, Claudius. Robert Graves' historically-based fictional biography of Tiberius Claudius and life with Roman emperors and major names. It's interesting throughout, with very few dry spots.
Luisfius wrote: "Since I just finished Blood Meridian (on Kindle) should I continue with more McCarthy (got All the Pretty Horses, Suttree and Child of God on paperback), or something lighter?"Child of God, for its macabre subject matter, is nowhere near as heavy as Blood Meridian. You could try it and see how it goes for you.
Yeah, just started that, since it is rather short. Do not know what to think about it yet, but in any case, it ought to be slightly lighter than Blood Meridian. Hell, the Road felt lighter than Blood Meridian.
Read The Magicians recently by Lev Grossman, it's pretty good
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I read Daphne du Maurier's "My Cousin Rachel" and her story collection "The Doll" earlier this month, and now I'm about 75% of the way through Samuel Beckett's "Murphy". Murphy is surprisingly funny, and I would have said "easy to follow," too, except that within the last 10 pages I've read, I've realized I've lost track of the main plot somewhere along the line...
Daniel wrote: "Read The Magicians recently by Lev Grossman, it's pretty good"The whole Magicians trilogy is well worth a read, which surprised me since I can't stand pretty much everything else of Grossman's I've read
i'm working on Storm of Steel by Ernst Junger.Basically, WWI was horrific and the coolest thing ever? Stuff like "We were watching planes dogfighting and it was sweet as hell, one of the pilots jumped out of the plane and fell to the ground! Then a plane exploded and killed the guy next to me with a huge wood splinter to the throat. 5/5, would war again!"
I conflict because book good but book writer once glowered at a woman.
speaking of woman, Elena Ferrante is a genius
I feel like goodreads really doesn't lend itself to good book discussion, but I've yet to find a place on the internet that does.
Nothing much new. I've been stuck reading a bunch of 19th century American literature lately, but it's basically my fault. I have to say that I enjoy Twain's "A Connecticut Yankee in King Arthur's Court" more now as a mid-30 year old than I did as a high schooler.
I just re-read Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. First book with everyone's favorite sociopath Hannibal Lecter. Its a fast read. The comparisons made between serial killers and those who catch them is a bit novel, but interesting enough, especially if you're looking for a fun read.
Anyway, thats my recommendation. I think I'm going to read McCullough's John Adams next. I saw the guy on Charlie Rose and he seemed like he had just the right balance between historian and author. Anyone read any of his books before?