Books Part V, featuring Benny Profane and the Whole Sick Crew

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I finished Station Eleven finally.

That book feels like the beginning of something really good, but while it paints a wonderful portrait, I don't know if it actually tells a story.

It's gonna make a great movie, though, cause that's basically guaranteed to happen.
 
I read that, finished it in like 5-6 days. I enjoyed it but it was pretty light. Not that that's a bad thing, not every book needs to be some hefty or weighty tome. I'm a sucker for dystopian shit and I liked the slant she put on it.

I'm going to read her prior books at some point.

I just read a short story collection called "Battleborn", which was excellent....and I am now on "The Meadow" by James Galvin, who was known only for his poetry prior to publishing this book.

I feel like this is the slowest pace I've set for reading in years, but some of the books I've read this year were pretty long. So far in 2015:

Battleborn by Claire Vaye Watkins (what an interesting backstory this woman has, by the way)
The Mechanical by Ian Tregillis
City of Stairs by Robert Jackson Bennett
Blood of Victory by my man Alan Furst
Seveneves by my man Neal Stephenson
Norwegian Wood by Haruki Murakami
American Elsewhere by Robert Jackson Bennett
The Fifth Heart by my man Dan Simmons
Red Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson
The Quiet American by Graham Greene
The Ballad of a Small Player by Lawrence Osborne (I loved this book but someone I know fucking hated it, so, who knows)
Leviathan Wakes by James S.A. Corey
Kingdom of Shadows by Alan Furst
The Martian by Andy Weir (boy did this have "will be a good movie" written all over it. Well, it had words written all over it, but, yeah. The book annoyed me at times but at least it was a swift read)
The Evolutionary Void by Peter F. Hamilton
Hateship, Friendship, Courtship, Loveship, Marriage: Stories by Alice Munro
 
I have not, but you reminded me that I had read something of his in the past, and I went and saw if it was listed in my Goodreads, and it was not.

SO NOW I HAVE READ ONE MORE BOOK THAN I THOUGHT I DID AND IT'S OFFICIALLY LOGGED.

Also, I will read the first book of the trilogy, such is the level of respect I hold for your love of reading, Alicia. BEHOLD.
 
GirlsAloudFan said:
Did you like Leviathan Wakes? A friend loaned it to me months ago and I haven't cracked it yet.
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It was ok. I generally like space opera, for lack of a better term, so I am a tad biased from the start. It moved along at a pretty brisk pace, so even when I was not loving it I didn't feel bogged down. There's a noir element to it that I liked, and you get to know the two main characters pretty well, though there's no real growth here. On the negative side, the book does the usual world building but it all feels kind of vague. Hard to explain without spoiling anything.

Anyway, short answer is it was fun but maybe too long to be only fun.

lazarus said:
I just finished his Dance, Dance, Dance today. Not as great as the above, but his books can feel so similar they often feel like variations on a theme.
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Norwegian Wood felt different than the other books of his that I've read. Was pretty straight forward, not much in the way of surrealism, etc. I'm not sure what to read next when it comes to his books. I've read the Windup-Bird Chronicle and A Wild Sheep Chase, both of which I liked a lot. I usually go in order with authors but that's already fucked, so, who knows.
 
What do people think of Dan Simmons? I started Carrion Comfort looking for something in that genre. Not far enough to have any thoughts of my own yet, just curious.
 
I'm a gigantic fan of his. His Hyperion Cantos is sublime. Carrion Comfort I liked, didn't love, but I enjoyed the concept. He's tailed off the last few years but I still read anything he writes immediately.

If you chose him for horror only, read Summer of Night at some point, unless you absolutely wind up hating Carrion Comfort.
 
Thanks. I didn't come to him just for that, but it's how I came across him in searching for things, you know? I'm interested in the sound of a lot of his work though, I'm sure I'll branch out.
 
Is anybody familiar here with the Thomas Harris novels?

I'm watching Hannibal now and I'm more interested in the books now than ever. Particularly Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs.
 
Lancemc said:
Thanks. I didn't come to him just for that, but it's how I came across him in searching for things, you know? I'm interested in the sound of a lot of his work though, I'm sure I'll branch out.
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I cannot recommend the Hyperion books enough.

As for Harris, Djerdap, I read The Silence of the Lambs, which I enjoyed at the time, it's been a long time. I also read Red Dragon, which I liked a little less. Have not read any others.
 
Yeah, thanks. I've been stuck for a long time in these very demanding, complicated, long books in different languages that take me months to finish. I'm at a phase where I need a lighter, more genre-oriented book in the nearby future.
 
djerdap said:
Is anybody familiar here with the Thomas Harris novels?

I'm watching Hannibal now and I'm more interested in the books now than ever. Particularly Red Dragon and The Silence of the Lambs.
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djerdap said:
Yeah, thanks. I've been stuck for a long time in these very demanding, complicated, long books in different languages that take me months to finish. I'm at a phase where I need a lighter, more genre-oriented book in the nearby future.
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I am a monolingual idiot, so I cannot fully relate to that…but I have had my periods of time where I was leaning towards books of length/books that were definitely hard to make your way through and eventually I needed lighter fare. I remember reading Le Morte d'Arthur in Middle English and that took months and I honestly didn't understand it all and when it was done I was wondering why the fuck I did that.

As I've gotten older I've drifted away from such books, not 100% sure why. I still like to learn/be challenged but I think I want the bulk of my literary experiences to test or at least employ my imagination more than anything else.
 
Lancemc said:
What do people think of Dan Simmons? I started Carrion Comfort looking for something in that genre. Not far enough to have any thoughts of my own yet, just curious.
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That book goes up and down, I love the beginning and the planning but some of the action is silly. Generally, though, a favorite.

I never read the last Hyperion book, but the first three are fantastic. NSW has never led me astray on book recommendations.


Also, silence of the lambs is one of my ten favorite books ever fwiw.
 
We discussed it at the time. I stopped reading it because I was getting uncomfortable on a religious level... It's always bugged me that I didn't finish it, though. I probably should just do it. Hate leaving stuff unfinished.


Plus I really never want to upset Father Captain Federico de Soya.
 
Well, I was still in a transitional point in my life, in that regard, and I've been wondering more, recently, if I'd get any enjoyment out of finishing the book. So I'd at least enjoy giving it another go.
 
I wasn't kidding, by the way, NSW has seriously never steered me wrong on book recommendations. I was trying to compile a list of my ten favorite books recently and I realized that of the 11 or 12 books I've read as a result of his recommendations (remember, Hyperion is 4 books and ASOIAF is 5), at least four of them were in my top ten, and Spin is likely my favorite book of all time at this point. ASOIAF is my favorite book series, but I can't pick and individual favorite, the run from Game to Storm is too good. The Fall of Hyperion is another that would make the top ten.
 
bono_212 said:
I wasn't kidding, by the way, NSW has seriously never steered me wrong on book recommendations. I was trying to compile a list of my ten favorite books recently and I realized that of the 11 or 12 books I've read as a result of his recommendations (remember, Hyperion is 4 books and ASOIAF is 5), at least four of them were in my top ten, and Spin is likely my favorite book of all time at this point. ASOIAF is my favorite book series, but I can't pick and individual favorite, the run from Game to Storm is too good. The Fall of Hyperion is another that would make the top ten.
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Thanks. :)

Laz, this makes it all the more inexcusable that you have not read one fucking Gene Wolfe book yet. Unless you did, hated it and neglected to mock me for it.

Read the Book of the New Sun already. FFS.
 
I'm also in the mood for some more Cormac McCarthy soon. Outside of Blood Meridian and The Road which I've read, what's the most essential?
 
Lancemc said:
I'm also in the mood for some more Cormac McCarthy soon. Outside of Blood Meridian and The Road which I've read, what's the most essential?
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The Border Trilogy.

Then go backwards. But those three books are great.

And if you have not read No Country for Old Men, read that too eventually. Definitely easier and breezier than the others but still a great read.

But, yeah, I'd say the Border Trilogy is your best bet. The first book is All the Pretty Horses.
 
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