What are you reading?

Finished 100 Years of Solitude after trying to tackle it on and off since the lockdown. Pretty dense and complex work, especially with the repeating of names through the generations. Stepped away from it for months at a time, but by the last 200 pages or so, I think I got my mind attuned to the mystical elements, and it really turned into a rewarding read in the end.

Now moving on to my second attempt at Gravity’s Rainbow.
 
Löwenherz said:
Finished 100 Years of Solitude after trying to tackle it on and off since the lockdown. Pretty dense and complex work, especially with the repeating of names through the generations. Stepped away from it for months at a time, but by the last 200 pages or so, I think I got my mind attuned to the mystical elements, and it really turned into a rewarding read in the end.

Now moving on to my second attempt at Gravity’s Rainbow.
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Good luck! I've tried two or three times but a screaming comes across my brain every time before I get 100 pages in.
 
Löwenherz said:
Now moving on to my second attempt at Gravity’s Rainbow.
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This one looks interesting - added it to my Libby queue from the library.

Finished reading a couple of books recently - both were monthly freebies from Amazon (on the Kindle app), so I wasn't necessarily expecting much.

First was The Shadow Box (Luanne Rice), a murder / attempted murder mystery set in an exclusive New England coastal town that leaned a bit too heavily on that trope and suffered from way too many flashback / time jump episodes. I know why they did it (prolong some twists and turns, not give away some aspects of the story too early) but the book definitely suffered for it (IMHO). Also some definite plot holes. Not bad, but I wouldn't necessarily recommend it to anyone either unless you really like that genre.

Second, and much more my speed, was Deep Sleep (Steven Konkoly) - an action thriller (first in a series, apparently) set around the idea that Russia had sent over a slew of deep cover agents to the US decades ago. Entertaining, more of a speedy and easy read than Clancy, etc., and not as detailed or good, but not bad by any means. Also had some plot holes here and there, and it took me a bit to figure out how the characters in the first mini-chapter play into the story (hint, they don't ;) ) but the events eventually do as backstory. It's a decent, easy-to-read action yarn if you are looking for a distraction. Might check out the next one if it's available for free electronically via Kindle or Libby.
 
Warhawk said:
This one looks interesting - added it to my Libby queue from the library.
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I'd start elsewhere if Pynchon interests you at all. The Crying of Lot 49 or V., perhaps.

Gravity's Rainbow is excellent, but it's also a pretty classic "undergraduate lit major keeps it on the bookshelf for prestige but never actually finishes it" kind of book. ;)
 
Padrino said:
I'd start elsewhere if Pynchon interests you at all. The Crying of Lot 49 or V., perhaps.

Gravity's Rainbow is excellent, but it's also a pretty classic "undergraduate lit major keeps it on the bookshelf for prestige but never actually finishes it" kind of book.;)
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Literally not one word of this sentence applies to me, and yet I’m taking it personally.

As God is my witness, I will finish this damnable and excellent book.
 
Padrino said:
I'd start elsewhere if Pynchon interests you at all. The Crying of Lot 49 or V., perhaps.

Gravity's Rainbow is excellent, but it's also a pretty classic "undergraduate lit major keeps it on the bookshelf for prestige but never actually finishes it" kind of book.;)
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I have no idea who the author is (other than a name) and just added it to my list based on the posts above referencing it (and a quick google search just to see what it was about). I'll fight through just about anything I try to read. To date, to the best of my recollection, the only books I haven't finished that I intentionally set out to read through are Anna Karenina (twice, probably pretty self-explanatory for anyone who's attempted that one) and some book I started recently about Native American history and the USA (the combination of the author's tone and seemingly rambling approach and my trying to read it while sick just wasn't working out at all).

And I'm sure I'll try Anna Karenina again at some point. It's been at least 5 years since the last attempt. I'm good for another shot at it in the future.
 
Warhawk said:
I'll fight through just about anything I try to read. To date, to the best of my recollection, the only books I haven't finished that I intentionally set out to read through are Anna Karenina (twice, probably pretty self-explanatory for anyone who's attempted that one)
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I hated Anna Karenina, but got through it without a thought of quitting. I've quit Gravity's Rainbow at least twice, maybe three times. Just saying. Kudos to you if you make it through, but I wouldn't be cruel enough to dare you.
 
Just finished Dune Messiah, and while it pushed forward the story of Paul and the rest, it was definitely overly verbose, and could have been trimmed significantly while telling the same story. It had been a long time since I'd read it, and frankly I'd forgotten most of the plot. Herbert went into significant, twisting depth on character's thoughts and was very indirect with the dialogue, to the point where you get almost frustrated reading the book due to the almost abstractness of it. Definitely not as good as Dune in my opinion.
 
Just finished Children of Dune, and definitely a better book to me than Dune Messiah. It's funny that after so many years since I last read them these books are both familiar and new; I forgot major story lines and plot points, but then remember little details and twists as I read them again.

Looks like I'll put off reading the next Frank Herbert Dune book for a bit - just got Gravity's Rainbow delivered on the Libby app.
 
Warhawk said:
just got Gravity's Rainbow delivered on the Libby app.
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...and nope. This has got to be one of the most poorly written books (IMHO) I've ever tried to read. Run-on sentences that never end. No discernable plot so far. No explanation on what is going on, or why. It's like verbal diahrrea.

I could try to fight through it, but...why? I'm not seeing anything in the first 50+ pages that makes me want to read another 1,900+ (or however the Libby app breaks a book down). No thanks. Sending it back and starting Leviathan Wakes instead.
 
Warhawk said:
...and nope. This has got to be one of the most poorly written books (IMHO) I've ever tried to read. Run-on sentences that never end. No discernable plot so far. No explanation on what is going on, or why. It's like verbal diahrrea.

I could try to fight through it, but...why? I'm not seeing anything in the first 50+ pages that makes me want to read another 1,900+ (or however the Libby app breaks a book down). No thanks.
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Here's to good life decisions!
 
Warhawk said:
...and nope. This has got to be one of the most poorly written books (IMHO) I've ever tried to read. Run-on sentences that never end. No discernable plot so far. No explanation on what is going on, or why. It's like verbal diahrrea.

I could try to fight through it, but...why? I'm not seeing anything in the first 50+ pages that makes me want to read another 1,900+ (or however the Libby app breaks a book down). No thanks. Sending it back and starting Leviathan Wakes instead.
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This made me smile. I’m still going to fight the good fight.
 
Warhawk said:
... starting Leviathan Wakes instead.
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Just finished Leviathan Wakes (first book in The Expanse series). I usually try to read a book before seeing the movie or TV show, but in this case I didn't know the show was based on a series until I was well into it already (Prime Video). Both are excellent and very entertaining. The actors they got for the show reflect well on the characters depicted in the book. The book does a better job in parts explaining some stuff that I think the first series maybe glosses over a bit (or that I just missed - it's been a while since I watched that first season and I was trying to figure out what was going on). I think the show does a good job of bringing the book to life, especially with the Belters language, etc., making it still sound "foreign" but somewhat more "accessible" than the book.

Anyways, definitely recommended if you like this kind of thing (action/sci-fi with a little bit of horror mixed in, Mars is colonized, "Belters" working in space to mine asteroids/moons for valuable resources, political and open warfare at times, alien "life" that isn't very friendly to humans, etc.).
 
I just got done reading a book about 2 years old called red metal. It’s about a Russian attack into nato. Threw belarus .it did not work out for them in the end.

Then just finished reading comstock lode by Louis lamour.
 
Warhawk said:
Wrapped up New Spring yesterday (the prequel to the Wheel of Time series) - I haven't read any of the rest of the series yet but figured I'd start at the beginning. Took a bit for me to get into it at the beginning, but it found its groove and I ended up enjoying it. Like most books, there are a few little holes here and there and I'm sure some of the plot/info will make more sense as I dig into the series itself.
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Just finished The Eye of the World (book 1 of Wheel of Time) - I heard these books were long but had no idea. Overall, I really enjoyed it (and other than the first 10% or so of the book taking way too long to set everything up, it didn't seem to drag after that). I could tell it was long just because I typically finish books fairly quickly and that wasn't happening with this one. ;) The end seemed a bit on the abrupt side, with some aspects of the ending somewhat unexplained (but, with high fantasy-type stuff, that often happens). Looks like it will be a couple of months until the next book is available on Libby. I've got a few others in the hopper to read next but it's a couple of weeks until they show up as well, I think. Which is fine as I should catch up on some other stuff in the meantime.
 
Just finished Caliban's War (The Expanse, book 2). Another very good book, and if I recall correctly, season 2 of the show was the weakest (seemed to lag a bit in the middle). The book does not and is entertaining throughout. Maybe I missed some of it in the show, but the book does a better job explaining what is going on (from my recollection) regarding the evolution of the protomolecule, etc. Anyways, recommended (the book series)!
 
In contrast to these previous books, I just finished Diablo Mesa - a very quick read!

While the story moves right along and I like the characters and basic plot, there are a few holes here and there and things get glossed over pretty easily to keep the story from ever bogging down. It seems like the more recent books by Preston & Child are gearing more towards the action or movie-based plots than more in-depth stories like Relic and Cabinet of Curiosities, to name a couple. And from such good writers, this seems like a step backwards that minimizes their skill and uniqueness.
 
Just finished The Starless Crown (MoonFall Book 1) by James Rollins. I've read at least 90% of his stuff just because he typically writes a decent action yarn with some sci-fi/fantasy/mild horror elements mixed in. Not the best books ever, but entertaining and pretty easy to read.

This is (apparently?) his first real attempt at a fantasy series, and it is a mixed bag so far. He's got some interesting characters developing and his world-building isn't bad, but some of the characters seem a bit shoehorned into the story. He has an amalgam of some steampunk-type elements thrown in with knights in armor and fantasy creatures with some telepathy and mysterious relics left from the ancient "gods" - while this sounds like a cool mixture, it doesn't seem to work quite as well in execution, especially with the flying balloon/ships that don't seem to fit into a coherent "world" given everything else he's got in it (some of the action sequences in particular seem a bit contrived in this aspect - with the ships flying through clouds and mists, to the point where it's like ships in dense fog on the ocean, but yet they can see some things far away due to a lucky "break" in the clouds - over and over again). And there are lots of examples where he uses words that are intentional derivations of common words (but don't need to be - for instance "brimstan" instead of "brimstone", etc.). It's like he's almost trying too hard at some of these writing elements, but it ends up just making it a bit harder to read instead.

It is also a bit on the long side - he could have shortened this up a bit without too much of an issue.

My biggest glaring "huh?" on his story is a big part of his premise or series plotline - the "cause" of the "MoonFall" bit doesn't seem to be a reason to actually cause it at all (the physics of it).

The best description I can come up with is that it feels like fantasy as written by a non-fantasy/action writer (which it is), or an action book set in a high-fantasy "lite" setting. For much of the book, it works fine. But there shouldn't be quite as much book. This isn't Donaldson or Tolkien, with their incredibly rich, detailed worlds that need more exposition and description. Trim it a bit and keep to your action writing strengths.

While a lot of the above seems like I didn't enjoy the book, I actually did. These are just some things that stood out as being a bit off. I'll read the next one when it's finished. I think with the first book out of the way the next one shouldn't need to be as long to continue the story. Hopefully some of these things get explained better or hit their groove in the overall story.
 
about 100 pages left of Man and his symbols by Carl Jung and I must say it's a very intriguing read, really opens ones eyes up about all our surroundings and why they are there
 
Warhawk said:
Just finished The Eye of the World (book 1 of Wheel of Time) - I heard these books were long but had no idea. Overall, I really enjoyed it (and other than the first 10% or so of the book taking way too long to set everything up, it didn't seem to drag after that). I could tell it was long just because I typically finish books fairly quickly and that wasn't happening with this one. ;) The end seemed a bit on the abrupt side, with some aspects of the ending somewhat unexplained (but, with high fantasy-type stuff, that often happens). Looks like it will be a couple of months until the next book is available on Libby. I've got a few others in the hopper to read next but it's a couple of weeks until they show up as well, I think. Which is fine as I should catch up on some other stuff in the meantime.
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Just finished book 2 of WoT, The Great Hunt. The Libby app said that I had a few weeks but a couple days after The Starless Crown it popped up as available. Having a couple of these books under my belt, they are entertaining with generally good characters and writing. They are just LONG. Like, twice to three times as long as most fiction books I recall reading recently, if not longer. It isn't like they drag much, they just have a LOT of content. I kind of wish they were shorter books, but they are good reads. There are a few interesting world/character/"character type" additions in this one that I am interested in seeing how they all play out in the overall story. Might jump into watching the first season of the show on Prime as well....
 
Warhawk said:
Just finished Children of Dune, and definitely a better book to me than Dune Messiah. It's funny that after so many years since I last read them these books are both familiar and new; I forgot major story lines and plot points, but then remember little details and twists as I read them again.

Looks like I'll put off reading the next Frank Herbert Dune book for a bit - just got Gravity's Rainbow delivered on the Libby app.
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Just finished God Emperor of Dune and this one harkens back a bit to Dune Messiah as a read. The first 80% of the book could have been trimmed by at least 50% and you wouldn't have lost anything important. The last 20% was much better in terms of pacing and plot development. I had pretty much forgotten this entire story, so it was all "new" to me. I'm definitely interested to see where the story goes next....
 
Warhawk said:
Just finished God Emperor of Dune and this one harkens back a bit to Dune Messiah as a read. The first 80% of the book could have been trimmed by at least 50% and you wouldn't have lost anything important. The last 20% was much better in terms of pacing and plot development. I had pretty much forgotten this entire story, so it was all "new" to me. I'm definitely interested to see where the story goes next....
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Forgot to note I finished Heretics of Dune a couple days ago - probably the third best in the series after the first two (by Frank Herbert). Interesting plot developments, good characters, and a buildup to Chapterhouse: Dune (which I have pulled out of my bookcase but haven't started yet). One of my other books on Libby popped free so I'm reading that now.
 
Warhawk said:
Forgot to note I finished Heretics of Dune a couple days ago - probably the third best in the series after the first two (by Frank Herbert). Interesting plot developments, good characters, and a buildup to Chapterhouse: Dune (which I have pulled out of my bookcase but haven't started yet). One of my other books on Libby popped free so I'm reading that now.
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Heh, I'm in the middle of Chapterhouse right now! Definitely more of a slow burn but I figure it will pick up before the end.
 
Warhawk said:
Just finished Caliban's War (The Expanse, book 2). Another very good book, and if I recall correctly, season 2 of the show was the weakest (seemed to lag a bit in the middle). The book does not and is entertaining throughout. Maybe I missed some of it in the show, but the book does a better job explaining what is going on (from my recollection) regarding the evolution of the protomolecule, etc. Anyways, recommended (the book series)!
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Just plowed through Abaddon's Gate (The Expanse, book 3) - another quality entry in the series, and it makes me want to watch the series again to as I missed some details in the show that I'm catching while reading the book. Dig into this series if you have any interest at all in good outer space sci-fi.
 
Just finished Boundless (The Lost Fleet: Outlands) by Jack Campbell - a continuing fiction series I started reading a few years ago and still find pretty enjoyable. A few elements are played just a tad heavy-handed for emphasis/effect, but this book starts a new story for Black Jack (the man out of time and leading the Alliance space fleet against human enemies and searching to re-connect with an alien species from the previous series). Looking forward to the story continuing. If you want to start from the beginning, check out the book Dauntless.
 
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Just polished off The Dragon Reborn (Wheel of Time book 3) - while not quite as long as some of the others, it seemed to move the story along a bit better. Again, a good book and the series is recommended for those who like high fantasy.

According to wikipedia, the first 4 books (books 1-3 and the prequel) have just shy of 950,000 words, with the remaining 11 books having another 3.5± million words. o_O
 
Warhawk said:
Just plowed through Abaddon's Gate (The Expanse, book 3) - another quality entry in the series, and it makes me want to watch the series again to as I missed some details in the show that I'm catching while reading the book. Dig into this series if you have any interest at all in good outer space sci-fi.
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Just finished book 4 of The Expanse, Cibola Burn. I find myself enjoying the books after watching the shows because the books add a lot of detail that the shows gloss over (or I just missed?). Good stuff.
 
Capt. Factorial said:
Heh, I'm in the middle of Chapterhouse right now! Definitely more of a slow burn but I figure it will pick up before the end.
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That's one way to put it (I just finished this one [Chapterhouse: Dune] last night).

After reading all 6 of Frank Herbert's Dune books, it seems like after the first couple (and besides Heretics of Dune to a certain extent), his world-building morphed into attempting to build deeper characters instead, but all it does is drag the book out a lot longer than necessary. Sometimes you need to get to the point and trim out some of the constant internal monologues and vague dialogue. He really struggled with that in at least 3 of these books.
 
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