Re: Current Reads

whatthedeuce Tue Sep 30, 2014 6:19 pm

I'm getting sad knowing people will discuss amazing books here that I won't read for years because grad school is murdering my leisure time. I was in the middle of Apple Tree Yard, which involves a British woman on trial with her mysterious lover, and I haven't picked it up in a week because my required reading takes up so much time. And the book was getting good, too!

MaddyCat Fri Oct 03, 2014 4:44 pm

I feel you whatthedeuce. I often lamented the irony of how going to grad school for literature suffocated my ability to read for pleasure. It came back eventually, but it took a looooong time. Good luck!

whatthedeuce Fri Oct 03, 2014 6:12 pm

MaddyCat, that is some sadly delicious irony right there. What's to become of my annual 50-book goal? It makes me itchy to think of not reaching it every year. And the sequel to The Bone Season is coming out, too! Darn you, higher education! *shakes fist*

Raksha Fri Oct 03, 2014 10:56 pm

Today I finished My Body Is a Book of Rules by Elissa Washuta and it was very, very good. The blurb on the back of the book is actually a very accurate description of what you find inside:

As Elissa Washuta makes the transition from college kid to independent adult, she finds herself overwhelmed by the calamities piling up in her brain. When her mood-stabilizing medications aren’t threatening her life, they’re shoving her from depression to mania and back in the space of an hour. Her crisis of American Indian identity bleeds into other areas of self-doubt; mental illness, sexual trauma, ethnic identity, and independence become intertwined. Sifting through the scraps of her past in fifteen formally inventive chapters, Washuta aligns the strictures of her Catholic school education with Cosmopolitan’s mandates for womanhood, views memories through the distorting lens of Law & Order: Special Victims Unit, and contrasts her bipolar highs and lows with those of Britney Spears and Kurt Cobain. Built on the bones of fundamental identity questions as contorted by a distressed brain, My Body Is a Book of Rules pulls no punches in its self-deprecating and ferocious look at human fallibility.

She's had to deal with some serious issues and it can be hard to read at times, but it's worth it.

Putli Bai Sat Oct 04, 2014 12:57 pm

RiverThames wrote:
inversed wrote:Ready Player One was just OK. The writing was really meh, by the end I was just kind of skimming it.

I just got around to reading it, and it annoyed me.

The first four chapters or so are literally nothing but infodump, but was a quick, engaging read. I'll admit I kept turning pages despite being annoyed. But, man... the "puzzles" that stumped the ENTIRE "gunter" population for YEARS are, like, barely a notch above Riddler-on-the-Superfriends level.

Spoiler:

Given the way most gamers/online people are RIGHT NOW about puzzles/easter eggs/secret rooms, I can't believe that the whole thing wasn't cracked within 72 hours of Halliday's death.

I really, really liked Ready Player One, but I'm a former gamer who grew up in the eighties and spent a summer working in a video arcade, so the author pitched it right into my wheelhouse. That said, I really can't argue with any of the criticism, because as much as I liked it, I could still see the flaws. What made me call shenanigans was that Wade, who is 17/18 when the book starts, cannot possibly have read all those books, watched all those movies and television shows, and mastered all of those video games, as he claims to have done. There simply aren't enough hours in the day/week/month/year. I mean, Tempest was my jam, back in the day, and I couldn't have come close to doing what he did.

eventide82 Sun Oct 05, 2014 1:17 am

stargirl wrote:I just discovered Liane Moriarty this summer! So far, I've read Big Little Lies, What Alice Forgot, and The Hypnotist's Love Story--loved all of them, especially the first two. The first one I read was Alice--I was expecting it to be a fluffy chick-lit type of book, and it did start out that way but it ended up being so much more than that.

I've been looking for some books for our holiday next week and thanks to this thread I just downloaded a Lian Moriarty book - it sounds like a perfect beach read.

RiverThames Sun Oct 05, 2014 10:37 pm

Putli Bai wrote:
RiverThames wrote:
inversed wrote:Ready Player One was just OK. The writing was really meh, by the end I was just kind of skimming it.

I just got around to reading it, and it annoyed me.

The first four chapters or so are literally nothing but infodump, but was a quick, engaging read. I'll admit I kept turning pages despite being annoyed. But, man... the "puzzles" that stumped the ENTIRE "gunter" population for YEARS are, like, barely a notch above Riddler-on-the-Superfriends level.

Spoiler:

Given the way most gamers/online people are RIGHT NOW about puzzles/easter eggs/secret rooms, I can't believe that the whole thing wasn't cracked within 72 hours of Halliday's death.

I really, really liked Ready Player One, but I'm a former gamer who grew up in the eighties and spent a summer working in a video arcade, so the author pitched it right into my wheelhouse. That said, I really can't argue with any of the criticism, because as much as I liked it, I could still see the flaws. What made me call shenanigans was that Wade, who is 17/18 when the book starts, cannot possibly have read all those books, watched all those movies and television shows, and mastered all of those video games, as he claims to have done. There simply aren't enough hours in the day/week/month/year. I mean, Tempest was my jam, back in the day, and I couldn't have come close to doing what he did.

Yeah, there is that as well.

I mean, yeah, I am exactly the person who can speak the Shiboleth that Cline was putting out there, so wheelhouse isn't an issue. But you've got a good point-- even as an 80s teenager legitimately into most of that stuff, I wouldn't have been able to do all that. Especially line-for-line "Wargames", because... who would have done that? Ghostbusters, sure, but Wargames?

And maybe it was because it was right in my wheelhouse that the puzzles were too easy for me.

Bad Username Mon Oct 06, 2014 1:06 am

I recently read The Long Mars by Stephen Baxter and Terry Pratchett - Red Wolf mentioned it upthread - and loved it. I thought it was a good conclusion to the series, although it leaves some questions unanswered, and I would love to see further explorations of the Long Earth.

I also read The Panic Virus: Fear, Myth, and the Vaccination Debate by Seth Mnookin. Pretty much as the title suggests, it examines the vaccination "debate" (although IMO the anti-vaxxers don't bring enough evidence to the table to call it a debate), and the way that democratised information, even presented without context, has led to an increasing disregard of scientific and medical findings and an increasing reliance of 'gut feelings' among some parts of the population.

Now I'm reading Lock In, and enjoying it so much! I'm halfway through, and there hasn't been a boring page so far.

Red Wolf Mon Oct 06, 2014 7:07 am

I recently read The Long Mars by Stephen Baxter and Terry Pratchett - Red Wolf mentioned it upthread - and loved it. I thought it was a good conclusion to the series, although it leaves some questions unanswered, and I would love to see further explorations of the Long Earth.

Apparently there are two more books to come. I really like the series, I'm glad there's more on the way.

Bad Username Tue Oct 07, 2014 6:00 am

That's great news, thanks.

inversed Tue Oct 07, 2014 6:06 am

I've been reading Frog Music by Emma Donoghue foreeeeeever. Mostly because I'm too tired at the end of the day to read but also because it's not as engaging as I'd hoped. I just can't quite get a handle on it. I do really like that the main character is a prostitute who loves sex, but she's not punished for that. But really the only reason I'm finishing it is because I have got to find out what happens to the baby.

I'm also halfway through Sarah Waters' The Little Stranger which I like WAY more, but I'm making myself finish Frog Music first.

big chicken Tue Oct 07, 2014 1:59 pm

I was reading Howl's Moving Castle but I've set it aside for the final Heroes of Olympus book, The Blood of Olympus. Rick Riordan does like to lovingly troll his fans.

RiverThames Tue Oct 07, 2014 2:07 pm

I couldn't be bothered to finish Son of Neptune. I didn't care about the non-Percy characters, and the POV-structure was off-putting. The way he structured POV in Lost Hero was mildly annoying, but doubly so in Son of Neptune.

whatthedeuce Wed Oct 08, 2014 12:46 pm

inversed, I tried Frog Music a few months ago, but the structure or diction or something was off-putting to me though I can't remember exactly what or why now.

mokey75 Wed Oct 08, 2014 2:50 pm

I also struggled through Frog Music. I only finished it because I wanted to know what happend to P'tit, but those were some of the least likable characters ever. I'm pretty sure I skimmed most of the last third.

Jude Sun Oct 12, 2014 11:46 am

I don't know if anyone here is interested or not, but Maggie Stiefvater's 3rd book in The Raven Cycle Blue Lily, Lily Blue is free for pre-order today for Kindle on Amazon. It comes out on October 21 (my birthday!).

Eh, it just downloaded and it's a sneak preview, so never mind!

whatthedeuce Mon Oct 13, 2014 12:28 am

I'm looking forward to that sequel myself even though I didn't like the last book half as much as I did the first installment. Is it a trilogy? I don't want it to end just yet, so I'm hoping that it'll be a longer series.

MaddyCat Tue Oct 14, 2014 6:53 pm

Finally finished Beukes follow-up to The Shining Girls, Broken Monsters and I was disappointed. It wasn't bad, but it felt so convoluted at times and not for any real purpose. I don't need my books tied up in a pretty bow or anything, but this was too messy for me. So many threads to follow and they didn't come together in a fully satisfying way. And she puts you into the serial killer's brain again (this is not a spoiler), but it wasn't as effective as in TSG, in my view. It bummed me out, man.

Onto Reconstructing Amelia which already seems quite dark. I need something upbeat after this!

whatthedeuce Wed Oct 15, 2014 12:27 am

Yeah, Reconstructing Amelia definitely doesn't have much lightness in it, but I remember enjoying it and zipping through it quite quickly!

mo pie Wed Oct 15, 2014 12:31 am

Forgive me if this has already been mentioned, but I just finished The Engagements and it was delightful. Recommended by Entertainment Weekly, and it is four interlocking stories, including the story of the (unmarried female) copywriter who came up with the tagline "A Diamond Is Forever."

whatthedeuce Tue Oct 21, 2014 12:10 am

I'm reading Miss Peregrine's Home For Peculiar Children and am hoping it doesn't get too creepy since I'm often alone at home.

Unlucky Bear Tue Oct 21, 2014 10:06 pm

Reading A Discovery of Witches by Katherine Howe, and I want SO BADLY to love it, but the main love interest reminds me SO much of Edward Cullen that it's really a struggle to get through.

MaddyCat Fri Oct 24, 2014 11:22 pm

Okay, I put aside Reconstructing Amelia in favor of Station Eleven by Emily St. John Mandel and boy am I glad I did. Guys, this is a GREAT book. It's post-apocalyptic--99% of the population has been wiped out by a flu--and it toggles back and forth in time between pre-flu and post-flu, revolving around a small set of characters who knew or came in contact with the famous actor Arthur Leander. Of course it covers ideas about what it means to survive, but it also covers themes of fame, family, ambition, and memory. I was highlighting provocative lines like crazy.

I just found this riveting. It's dark, thoughtful, sometimes creepy, sometimes hopeful, always well-written.

I had a summer of mediocre reads, so this was frickin' amazing. So happy I read it!

whatthedeuce Fri Oct 24, 2014 11:53 pm

Miss Peregrine's didn't really do anything for me. I actually found it pretty boring after the first 100 pages, but it was short enough that I figured I'd at least finish it and see what happens.

inversed Sun Oct 26, 2014 6:21 pm

I'm reading The Shining Girls right now, which is really, really good. Maybe it's because I need a good distraction right now, but I'm finding it riveting.

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