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Post by Head Mutant on Sept 25, 2007 10:50:06 GMT -5
I'm listening to "A Dirty Job" in the car, and just laughing my head off. It's read by Fisher Stevens ("The Plague" from Hackers), who's able to pull off a surprising variety of voices. The book's just a witty, snarky twist on the old tale of a regular shmoe finding out that he's the grim reaper, and includes all sorts of lovely metaphors and descriptions, such as a giant hellhound's droppings resembling "enormous poop torpedoes attacking an imaginary naval fleet".
Am still reading through the Thursday Next books, which are wonderful and inventive beyond description. I wish I could write this well.
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Post by PoolMan on Oct 9, 2007 20:08:42 GMT -5
I reread Stardust on the plane between Milwaukee and Vancouver (shorter read than I remember, hooray for visits home). I found myself absolutely struck by the fact that it's only passingly like the movie, and yet the movie didn't give me the same vibe. Odd. And yet I really like both.
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Post by blinkfan on Nov 1, 2007 23:00:44 GMT -5
I am reading "IT" right now and I must say, that if it wasn't for the Bible, it would be the best book I ever read. It's just so beautifully written and genuinely frightning.
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Post by Head Mutant on Nov 4, 2007 14:10:29 GMT -5
IT was the first King novel I read, and remains one of my faves, despite it scaring the crap out of me. I went on a reading blitz over vacation, but this book stood head and shoulders above other ones that I expected to dominate: The Name of the Wind. Look past the blah-fantasy title and blah-expectations of the fantasy genre. This guy wrote a book that's genuinely interesting and involving from the start. One of my biggest frustrations in reading is how much extraneous fluff that writers, particularly fantasy writers, throw into stories to pad out the word count. Name of the Wind gives a meaty dose of something interesting in every chapter, and moves along quickly. Can't wait for the next book in the series. |
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Post by sarahbot on Nov 5, 2007 17:51:29 GMT -5
I just finished reading the most recent Thursday Next book. I loved it, especially how well-thought out his world is. There's clues in the first book that don't become important until now, and there's wonderful minor plotlines that run throughout the entire story, like the Minotaur's slapstick in Something Rotten. My only quibble is the ending, which is (spoiler alert for the extremely delicate) a cliffhanger. Arghhh!
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LadyStarblade
Boomstick Coordinator
I'm a .38 Special on a .45 frame.
Posts: 204
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Post by LadyStarblade on Dec 18, 2007 13:40:38 GMT -5
I found a stack of Highlander TV novelizations at the Half-Price store for a buck apiece, so I'm working my way through them. Quality varies crazylike, but I'm not taxing my brain much.
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Post by sarahbot on Dec 19, 2007 12:38:43 GMT -5
My mom gave me my Christmas presents early, so I'm re-reading Atonement before I see the movie. I also got Jingo, which is one of my top 5 Discworld books, and Only Revolutions by Mark Z. Danielewski, which is CA-RAAAAZY. There's two friends who are in a car that can travel through time, and they both narrate the story which begins at either ends of the book . . .
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momo
Mini-Mutant
This is an awfully big wardrobe...
Posts: 32
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Post by momo on Dec 31, 2007 18:32:12 GMT -5
I'm reading Josephus' History of the Jewish Wars. For fun. I'm also incredibly boring/nerdy if you haven't realized it yet.
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coccatino
Ghostbuster
whose baby are you?
Posts: 588
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Post by coccatino on Jan 7, 2008 13:40:56 GMT -5
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly
it's about a 12 year old boy whose mother dies and how he retreats into a world of fantasy and books as a result. Interesting twists on familiar fairy tales.
it is thus far excellent.
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Post by Al on Jan 7, 2008 22:50:24 GMT -5
The Book of Lost Things by John Connolly it's about a 12 year old boy whose mother dies and how he retreats into a world of fantasy and books as a result. Interesting twists on familiar fairy tales. it is thus far excellent. That was a fun one. It's been criticized a bit for not being especially different from any other "young boy in a fairytale world"-type stories, and I guess that's valid, but I really thought it was a well done bit of fantasy. And the dwarves (if you've gotten there yet) absolutely crack me up. |
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coccatino
Ghostbuster
whose baby are you?
Posts: 588
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Post by coccatino on Jan 8, 2008 9:19:56 GMT -5
It's been criticized a bit for not being especially different from any other "young boy in a fairytale world"-type stories, and I guess that's valid, but I really thought it was a well done bit of fantasy. It isn't terribly different from those other stories, but the writing is far superior, in my opinion. There are few things that bother me more than a great plot with terrible writing. |
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Post by aargmematey on Feb 13, 2008 19:41:53 GMT -5
I just finished I, Lucifer by Glen Duncan, and I have to say it is one of the best books I've read in a really long time.
A book about the devil, by the devil. Due to the endtimes being nigh God strikes a deal with Lucifer, to inhabit a writer's body for a month. After the month Luce can decide to either keep the body and live his life as a human (eventually...possibly gaining access to heaven if he doesn't mess up too badly) or he can leave the body and go back to being the lord of hell.
I wasn't expecting the book to affect me as much as it did. I thought it was a clever idea, and that it was going to fun and funny but nothing too memorable...but I was wrong. Duncan does a particularly good job of making Lucifer likable while never letting the reader forget that he is the Devil (even if he's acting as a human) and he is evil. I highly recommend this one.
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Post by StarOpal on Feb 27, 2008 14:16:16 GMT -5
In the middle of Over the Edge: Death in Grand Canyon, nonfiction, it's about death and accidents in the Grand Canyon. No pictures like Death in Yellowstone, but still an interesting read.
And volume 1 of graphic novel Operation Liberate Men. I already know I'll be picking up volume 2.
I'm a strange girl.
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Post by BlackCatWhiteCat on Apr 15, 2008 2:41:21 GMT -5
I just finished Kevin Murdphys A Year At the Movies: One Man's Filmgoing Odyssey. Afterwards I had a jonesin' to read Mike Nelson' Movie Megacheese again. No, I'm not an MST3K nerd. Uh-uh.
Right now my big thing is reading Micheal Crichton. I'm on State of Fear right now. Not my favorite one of his, though it sure beats The Lost World. I started reading that one right after Jurassic Park and finally threw it down in exasperation, exclaiming "I JUST READ THIS BOOK!". I'd have to say that so far my favorites from him are Airframe, The Great Train Robbery, and Rising Sun.
I've also done quite a bit of Stephen King lately, with Needful Things being the latest I have gone through. Always loved his stuff, especially IT. I should read that again one day when I have a bazillion hours to devote to it like I did it high school. Did anyone else have a piece of their soul ripped out when they watched that movie?
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Post by sarahbot on Apr 15, 2008 19:48:57 GMT -5
Possession by A. S. Byatt. Normally a bit heavier than what I like, especially during exam season, but it's so good I can't help it. Plus it's all about academia, so it makes me feel a teensy bit better about wasting the last three years of my life.
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"If I'm going to be desensitized into a mindless stock animal, I may as well do it with a cushy ergonomic seat and magnificent THX-certified sound. -Kevin Murphy