|
Post by afriendlychicken on Feb 8, 2014 22:07:15 GMT -5
The first non-picture book I remember reading was "Harry Cat's Pet Puppy" by George Seldon.
I'm reading 'The Tides of Time' by John Brunner. It's one of those stories that starts in the middle of things already happening so it takes a while to catch up on what's going on. I like stories that start like this. It makes you pay attention to what's happening. I guess I now have to write SPOIL ALERT for those who like those things. What's going on is everyday the main characters wake up they seem to be in a different time but remain in place. I'm about halfway through and still don't know where the stories heading, which can be a good thing.
|
|
|
Post by nondescript spice on Feb 19, 2014 18:07:08 GMT -5
It's one of those stories that starts in the middle of things already happening so it takes a while to catch up on what's going on. I like stories that start like this. It makes you pay attention to what's happening. that's how the terror begins (dan simmons - finally got it). i wasn't sure i could stick with it at first, because it's about a failed expedition to the arctic north by the british navy in the middle 1800's. lots of nautical terminology and background that lost me more than once. but i'm glad i stayed with it, because now i'm solidly hooked. there's a quote on the back of the book from stephen king: i am in awe of dan simmons. wow. you could live of that for the rest of your life.
|
|
|
Post by nondescript spice on Mar 1, 2014 21:34:11 GMT -5
okay, finished the terror yesterday.
i can see why people think so highly of it. dan simmons is an amazing storyteller. but even though i did get absorbed by the story, i was also lost a bit with the endless pages concerning navigation of the men. maybe that was the point? that he wanted you to feel kind of un-anchored too, as it were? maybe i'm over thinking that. but the two most fascinating characters - the monster on the ice and lady silence kind of disappeared halfway through the story, which left nothing but the men's misery of slow starvation, scurvy and hopelessness. i would have given up on a lesser writer. it did have an ending i didn't expect, though. after thinking about it, yeah, i am glad i read it and would recommend it to others. i'm totally on the simmons boat now.
today i started 12 years a slave from solomon northup. just happened to catch it at the library, as it has been checked out constantly for weeks. i haven't seen the movie yet. i want to read the book first so i can pretentiously point out what the movie left out or added. he didn't do that. that's not how it happened.
|
|
|
Post by Crowfan on Mar 8, 2014 11:16:28 GMT -5
Now reading Heinrich Himmler by Peter Longerich. It's quite interesting, and very detailed.
|
|
|
Post by Don Quixote on Mar 9, 2014 22:54:45 GMT -5
William Cooper's Town: Power and Persuasion on the Frontier of the Early American Republic by Alan Taylor Can't recommend this book enough. Taylor gives us every detail you could hope for, but the book doesn't suffer from the typical problems of pedantry that quasi-local histories tend to. This is mainly because it ties into a larger sociological movement during the formation years of the Republic. You see how the Revolution uprooted traditional social norms and replaced them. Where once patronage was king, industry and commerce become the focus. It's quite fascinating. Additionally, the book serves as a literary review of James Fennimore Cooper's The Pioneers and how it relates to the story of the founding of Cooperstown, NY. I've read the book once before, so it's entirely possible I've recommended it already. But regardless, read it. Here's the link: www.amazon.com/William-Coopers-Town-Persuasion-Frontier/dp/0679773002
|
|
|
Post by nondescript spice on Apr 12, 2014 16:36:47 GMT -5
the book thief by markus zusak
everyone thinks this book is a classic, one that should be required reading in school. it was good and there were several scenes in the book that i found somewhat moving, but all in all, i wasn't blown away by it as i thought i might be, after reading the reviews. it wasn't bad. but it never really got under my skin like i like a good story to do.
growing up and learning what i did about wwII is vastly different than what i know now. war history doesn't interest me much - there will always be wars and the why's and what for's of them never seem to change. all i see is the loss it causes, the damage. when i was a kid in history class, bored out of my mind as my teacher droned on and on about nazi germany, i fell under the assumption that every single living person in germany at that time hated the jews and was totally on board with hitler. i slowly learned through books i read after school how untrue that was; how many people sympathized with the jews and of course they only followed hitler because they had no choice. at the same time, i remember being shocked the first time i realized how anti-semitic america was during the war. i assumed we were all on the same side as the jews - why else did we get involved? it made me feel ashamed of those that were on the hitler bandwagon and gave me a deeper appreciation for the books i read about the people that stood up against it, even if it meant certain death.
that is the good i take out of the book thief.
|
|
|
Post by afriendlychicken on Apr 12, 2014 19:51:51 GMT -5
Moon of Ice by Brad Linaweaver.
Ever wanted to know what the world would be like if Germany developed the bomb first & won WWII? Well, here's the book for you. It's told from the perspective of a diary that an American publisher is wanting to publish of Hilda Goebbels, who in this story survives and is an anarchist because Joseph Goebbels doesn't kill his family. She also shares a diary she finds of her fathers last years and his entries make up more than half the books length.
It's creepy, fascinating and at times, painfully funny. There's an excerpt from a play written about 'da Fuehrer' and his cohorts that will make you laugh and feel incredibly guilty about it.
Next to Philip K. Dick's The Man in the High Castle, this is the best alternate history of WWII I've ever read.
Highly recommended for WWII buffs.
|
|
|
Post by Weirdo Writer on Apr 30, 2014 19:21:56 GMT -5
Hannibal by Thomas Harris
|
|
|
Post by Weirdo Writer on May 7, 2014 20:54:13 GMT -5
Cryptonomicon by Neal Stephenson
|
|
|
Post by Don Quixote on Jun 1, 2014 8:27:35 GMT -5
Been reading The Three Musketeers these past couple of weeks on my off time. I'm about 10/16ths of the way through it.
While the translation I'm reading is quite old, once you get around some of the more anachronistic wording, it's quite the rousing adventure book. Amazingly funny too, if you can peel back the layers of the centuries. I read and loved The Count of Monte Cristo years ago. Dumas really knew how to write action, and this is from someone who can't read it in French, and thus must rely on translations. I can only imagine how rousing it is in French.
Some people would see the vocabulary used as a difficulty; a reason to not read the book. And while it is true that the book takes an inordinate amount of time in conversations due to that odd aristocratic decorum, you forget the clunky dialogue when Aramis is fighting an English noble in a daring duel for satisfaction, or when D'Artangan is being chased by the Cardinal's men throughout the French countryside, desperate to reach the coast. Even some of the scenes of bedroom intrigue are interesting. Of course, we don't get graphic sex described, if sex happens at all is entirely up to your interpretation. But it's a damn fun read.
I will say this, though. Apart from the dialogue being a bit of a stumbling block for most people who aren't used to such modes of speech, the book does take a bit to get going.
|
|
|
Post by michaeljgleason96 on Jun 3, 2014 22:58:37 GMT -5
M*A*S*H: A Novel about Three Army Doctors by Richard Hooker. My ratings of it go, TV Show, Movie, Book, but only because Alan Alda, Donald Sutherland and Gary Burghoff are super funny.
|
|
|
Post by Weirdo Writer on Jun 11, 2014 19:24:22 GMT -5
Hannibal Rising by Thomas Harris
|
|
|
Post by Crowfan on Jun 18, 2014 13:48:59 GMT -5
The Trigger: Hunting The Assassin Who Brought The World To War" by Tim Butcher.
|
|
|
Post by Crowfan on Jun 26, 2014 17:23:44 GMT -5
The Rise Of The Fourth Reich by Jim Marrs
|
|
|
Post by michaeljgleason96 on Jun 27, 2014 1:09:11 GMT -5
Valhalla by Ari Bach
|
|