2012 Book Thread

[Steve9347]

"Amped: A Novel" is one badass little book.

 

http://www.amazon.com/Amped-Novel-Daniel-H...;keywords=amped

[ChiSox_Sonix]

Alright, I've got to go on a Song of Ice and Fire rant.

 

Just finished up the first 5. The first 3 were awesome, FFC and DoD pissed me off.

 

Nothing is happening. 1800 pages over two books and there is virtually no advancement of the main plot lines.

 

Daenerys is still on the eastern side of the narrow sea and isn't showing any inclination to invade Westeros. The Others haven't made an appearance in quite some time. Cersei is still f***ing up the realm while ruling for one of her sons. Stannis is still basically irrelevant and no one else has really stepped up yet to make trouble for the Lannisters since Robb was killed. Everyone is just planning or wandering the realm, often aimlessly.

 

The side plots aren't any better. Bran's sections are still incredibly boring and have yet to show any relevance to the main plot. I don't know what the hell the point of Arya, Davos and Brienne chapters are, they didn't really go anywhere or doing anything of major significance. The same is mostly true of Sansa and Sam, at least they seem like they will matter.

 

Even the more interesting characters like Jaime and Tyrion are losing steam, though at least those have a point (Tyrion was how Aegon was introduced and Jaime figuring out what to do with out his sword hand makes sense). John's chapters are highly repetitive between preparing for battle and figuring out how to help the wildlings, at least until he gets stabbed. If not for Cersei's plotting, the arrival of Aegon and some decent parts with Theon/Reek, it'd have been even worse.

 

I can't imagine the feeling if you were reading these when they actually came out, it's been 12 years and counting since the awesomeness of Storm of Swords. At least it sounds like things will pick up again in Winds of Winter, though who knows when that will actually come out.

I agree with you some. Daenarys is getting annoying. She needs to be working towards Westeros and it seems like she is getting farther away. My opinion is while the Ironmen are attacking in Slaver's Bay, she will regain her Khalasar because they are in awe of the power of Drogon. She will use them to regain her city and then begin her move westward.

 

As for Jon, I think his "death" is so he can be "reborn" by Melisandre as Azor Ahai. Also, I think he is a child of Lyanna Stark (Ice) and Rhaegar Targaryen (Fire) and is one of the three heads of the dragon, thus being one of the most important people in the saga.

 

I completely disagree about Davos however. His scenes were used to show what side the Manderlys are on. The Manderlys owe the Starks a debt from centuries past and they appear to be intent on keeping that. That is why Davos was sent to Sakgos to retrieve Rickon. If he returns with Rickon, not only the Manderlys, but the rest of the North will unite behind him and oust the Boltons and Freys.

 

The Lannisters will get theirs. Everything seems to be falling apart for them now. Whether it is the Dornish, the North or someone from the East, they will get theirs.

 

And GRRM stated that we will see much more the Others and The Land of Always Winter (through who's eyes though? Benjen maybe?) in this next book.

 

Personally, I think this gets extended to 8 books - just too much to wrap up. I just hope it does finally get a conclusion.

 

[RockRaines]

Im not reading the spoilers but after being almost halfway into A Dance, I actually like all the subplotsnad the build up to what should be the ending. Half of the "nothing" that is happening is actually pieces moving into position that will change the course of some of their house's futures. I think there was some foreshadowing in the previous book where it talked about houses that were totally eliminated from existing because they chose the wrong side. I'm really into it but waiting for the next one is going to suck.

[False Alarm]

Can someone summarize maybe the 3-5 best books they've read since August/September of last year?

 

I'm trying to catch up with every book that I can't read while I'm in China, and I just refuse to use kindle/e-readers, just have to have the feeling of an actual, physical book in my hand.

 

I read the latest Grisham (Litigators) and Paterson/Alex Cross books on the plane, so my interests go from David Foster Wallace/Ulysses level of difficulty to summer beach reading.

 

One of the books I read about here that I really enjoyed was 11/22/63, the Stephen King one on the JFK assassination "re-do."

 

Fifty Shades of Grey, couldn't make it through. Read all the Hunger Games books in one week, though.

best books i've read since last aug/sep were hundred years of solitude (reread) and blood meridian, both of which i'm sure you've read.

 

best few after those:

 

the last unicorn, peter s beagle

the year of the death of ricardo reis, saramago

a dance with dragons, grrm

never knew another, jm mcdermott

 

i ain't gonna summarize em. throw em into google and read the jacket descriptions. now that i look at it, all four are fantasy of some type (you could call the saramago magic realism and argue that magic realism ain't fantasy, if you were in the mood). kind of a coincidence--i like mystery and SF and so-called literary fiction too.

 

as for DFW, i knew him a long time ago. had him a couple semesters at ISU. great guy, great teacher. i've read only a few short stories and an essay or two of his writing, so i don't have a strong opinion on him as a writer. his talent is obvious, at least. suppose i'll take up IJ one of these days.

[ZoomSlowik]

I agree with you some. Daenarys is getting annoying. She needs to be working towards Westeros and it seems like she is getting farther away. My opinion is while the Ironmen are attacking in Slaver's Bay, she will regain her Khalasar because they are in awe of the power of Drogon. She will use them to regain her city and then begin her move westward.

 

As for Jon, I think his "death" is so he can be "reborn" by Melisandre as Azor Ahai. Also, I think he is a child of Lyanna Stark (Ice) and Rhaegar Targaryen (Fire) and is one of the three heads of the dragon, thus being one of the most important people in the saga.

 

I completely disagree about Davos however. His scenes were used to show what side the Manderlys are on. The Manderlys owe the Starks a debt from centuries past and they appear to be intent on keeping that. That is why Davos was sent to Sakgos to retrieve Rickon. If he returns with Rickon, not only the Manderlys, but the rest of the North will unite behind him and oust the Boltons and Freys.

 

The Lannisters will get theirs. Everything seems to be falling apart for them now. Whether it is the Dornish, the North or someone from the East, they will get theirs.

 

And GRRM stated that we will see much more the Others and The Land of Always Winter (through who's eyes though? Benjen maybe?) in this next book.

 

Personally, I think this gets extended to 8 books - just too much to wrap up. I just hope it does finally get a conclusion.

 

The problem is all of these comments involve assumptions of things that may or may not happen in the next book, not things that have actually happened. We have no idea where things are going yet because he left so many things to wrap up in the series. I understand you need some buildup, it can't all be battles and people dying. But 1800 pages worth of it, spaced out over 12 years and counting? That seems a bit excessive.

[caulfield12]

best books i've read since last aug/sep were hundred years of solitude (reread) and blood meridian, both of which i'm sure you've read.

 

best few after those:

 

the last unicorn, peter s beagle

the year of the death of ricardo reis, saramago

a dance with dragons, grrm

never knew another, jm mcdermott

 

i ain't gonna summarize em. throw em into google and read the jacket descriptions. now that i look at it, all four are fantasy of some type (you could call the saramago magic realism and argue that magic realism ain't fantasy, if you were in the mood). kind of a coincidence--i like mystery and SF and so-called literary fiction too.

 

as for DFW, i knew him a long time ago. had him a couple semesters at ISU. great guy, great teacher. i've read only a few short stories and an essay or two of his writing, so i don't have a strong opinion on him as a writer. his talent is obvious, at least. suppose i'll take up IJ one of these days.

 

 

I've heard of Saramago, pretty sure I've read something of his.

 

My favorite fantasy writer is probably Terry Brooks.

 

I'm currently addicted to Haruki Murakami novels. The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle and IQ84 were so good that I checked out all ten of his other novels (After Dark is a short novella I just read this afternoon)...

 

For Marquez, I've read most of his majors works...having lived in Colombia, he's such an icon there. My Melancholy Whores was the most recent.

 

 

Snow Country is another novel that I greatly enjoyed this summer vacation.

 

And yeah, Cormac McCarthy is one of my favorites. Very talented writer. Dave Eggers, too.

Edited July 10, 2012 by caulfield12

[Jenksismyhero]

Whoa, on the train this morning I hit 3/4 of the way through Book 3 of Game of Thrones (A Storm of Swords)....holy crap.

[bigruss]

Whoa, on the train this morning I hit 3/4 of the way through Book 3 of Game of Thrones (A Storm of Swords)....holy crap.

Yup, that book is top 5 for me, unfortunately Martin doesn't hit that stride again in the next 2 books, hopefully the 6th picks it up again.

[StrangeSox]

Whoa, on the train this morning I hit 3/4 of the way through Book 3 of Game of Thrones (A Storm of Swords)....holy crap.

 

Red Wedding?

[Jenksismyhero]

Red Wedding?

 

Yep. Didn't see that coming at all. I had to reread the chapter just to make sure I was understanding what had happened. Can't say i'm upset since Catelyn's chapters were getting boring, but this certainly threw a big wrench into the plot.

Edited July 13, 2012 by Jenksismybitch

[RockRaines]

Yep. Didn't see that coming at all. I had to reread the chapter just to make sure I was understanding what had happened. Can't say i'm upset since Catelyn's chapters were getting boring, but this certainly threw a big wrench into the plot.

The repercussions of that chapter are felt for a long time. Just you wait.

 

I am 40% done with ADWD and I f***ing love it.

[RockRaines]

about 60% through it. Wow I love this book. I understand that nothing really comes to "conclusion" but I feel ALOT has happened in the grand scheme of things.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

about 60% through it. Wow I love this book. I understand that nothing really comes to "conclusion" but I feel ALOT has happened in the grand scheme of things.

 

Yeah, lots and lots of buildup. WoW is going to be phenomenal I feel. You still have a few surprises coming.

[southsider2k5]

Just finished Blood Feud by Lisa Alther on the Hatfield and McCoy feud. The mini-series on History recently was basically based on the book. Very interesting stuff on the details of what happened. It was interesting how many spots where the histories presented disagreed with each other on how specific events in the feud actually happened.

 

Solid read if you want more after watching the mini-series.

[RockRaines]

Yeah, lots and lots of buildup. WoW is going to be phenomenal I feel. You still have a few surprises coming.

OMG, one of the best books Ive ever read, but f*** that ending.

 

I also just finished the last Hunger games book, wow, talk about someone in a hurry to wrap everything up, pathetic.

[ChiSox_Sonix]

OMG, one of the best books Ive ever read, but f*** that ending.

 

I also just finished the last Hunger games book, wow, talk about someone in a hurry to wrap everything up, pathetic.

 

Yeah ending kinda pissed me off. Supposedly he already has a couple hundred pages done that he removed from this book, so at least he already has a conclusion to the loose ends and we don't have to worry about him dragging it out in the next book.

[iamshack]

Just finished GoT....great book!

 

Does the first season pretty much mirror the plot of the book?

 

I am not going to ruin anything for A Clash of Kings by watching season 1?

[ChiSox_Sonix]

Just finished GoT....great book!

 

Does the first season pretty much mirror the plot of the book?

 

I am not going to ruin anything for A Clash of Kings by watching season 1?

 

Season 1 pretty much mirrors the first book. A few slight changes and a few things were pulled in from book 2 but nothing that would ruin any reading of the second book

[clyons]

It sat on my shelf for over 10 years, but I finally picked up and then pretty quickly finished "Black Hawk Down" by Mark Bowden. It was intense, and I'm sorry I waited that long.

[StrangeSox]

Just finished the classic novel Lolita. Man what a creepy story, but probably one of the best examples of first-person narrative I've read.

[TaylorStSox]

I just picked up Cloud Atlas. Holy boring, Batman.

[southsider2k5]

I just finished re-reading War of the Worlds for the first time in probably 20 or 25 years. What an incredible book. The writing style is so different from what we read today. Plus the original movie was the first movie to absolutely scare the s*** out of me as a kid. I had nightmares about it.

[clyons]

It was very, very tough to put down "Gone Girl" by Gillian Flynn. Until the end.

[RockRaines]

Just finished GoT....great book!

 

Does the first season pretty much mirror the plot of the book?

 

I am not going to ruin anything for A Clash of Kings by watching season 1?

Read them all, just f***ing do it. You wont be able to put it down as soon as you start storm of swords.

[hogan873]

E-readers (Kindle for me) have to be one of the best inventions. I still like to read a real book once in a while, but being able to get a book immediately is nice. Plus, I've found many lesser known authors by downloading books for $.99 or $1.99. I got a $50 Amazon gift card for my birthday, and I've downloaded 8 books and still have $22 left. I may not love all of the books, but I'll take a shot at something that sounds good and gets decent customer reviews for a buck or two.

 

I just started Jeff Strand's Graverobbers Wanted: No Experience Necessary. Great horror/thriller/comedy mix. He and Jack Kilborn (J. A. Konrath) have worked together in the past. The short story collection Suckers was one of the funniest books I've ever read.