Favorite Reads

[006]

I recently picked this up for my trip next week.

It's the 7th book of the John Corey series. If you're into history with a good fictional story I think they are pretty good books.
Nelson DeMille - Books

 

[Indrid Cold]

I have been reading Cormac McCarthy's oeuvre in fits and starts and am working on Blood Meridian now.
Seem like it is generally regarded as his finest work, but I have to say at this point that it has not drawn me in like the first two novels in The Border Trilogy, probably due to the lack of a sympathetic character. I also really enjoyed reading No Country For Old Men, but had already watched the movie a few times at that point and finishing the book didn't seem like such an urgent matter as a result. I'd have to say that NCFOM made me sit and think quietly more than anything else I've read by McCarthy...
The Judge is a fascinating character, sort of a unstoppable killer figure like Anton Chigurh but with more of a personality and also possibly superhuman. I am very interested to see what McCarthy does with him as the book progresses.

I had been going through Hubert Selby Jr.'s works, but reading The Room (after Requiem For A Dream and Last Exit To Brooklyn) really took a lot out of me. That book really had a payoff at the end, but it was over a hundred pages of stuff that was really tough to read (mostly sadistic fantasies) to get to it, and it knocked me off Selby for a while.

 

[Omar 382]

Sitting on a South Carolina beach smoking a Marlboro and listening to A Storm of Swords on my phone. The fucking life.

 

[oaknightshockey1]

I'm over halfway through Stephen King's 11/22/63 and it is pretty awesome. I started reading it because there is a Hulu original TV series based on it, and I wanted to read the book before watching the series. Awesome book so far.

 

[ill]

I recently picked this up for my trip next week.
View attachment 135751
It's the 7th book of the John Corey series. If you're into history with a good fictional story I think they are pretty good books.
Nelson DeMille - Books

I have most of the John Corey novels and a bunch of other DeMille books, but I stopped somewhere around The Gate House, I don't think I read The Lion or The Panther

 

[ill]

Currently reading Neal Stephenson's Seveneves where basically the moon is fucked and it is going to fuck up the Earth, so they are trying to come up with a plan to preserve human life. I am not far into it, keep getting distracted, but it is fun and sciencey...reminds me of The Martian a bit

 

[Omar 382]

View attachment 141506

Currently reading Neal Stephenson's Seveneves where basically the moon is fucked and it is going to fuck up the Earth, so they are trying to come up with a plan to preserve human life. I am not far into it, keep getting distracted, but it is fun and sciencey...reminds me of The Martian a bit

Have you read Ghost Fleet? It might be my August monthly Audible book, but I think I'll finish the GOT series first

 

[Omar 382]

View attachment 141506

Currently reading Neal Stephenson's Seveneves where basically the moon is fucked and it is going to fuck up the Earth, so they are trying to come up with a plan to preserve human life. I am not far into it, keep getting distracted, but it is fun and sciencey...reminds me of The Martian a bit

By the way, welcome to you fellow Phillies fan. Hop onto our board!

 

[ill]

Have you read Ghost Fleet? It might be my August monthly Audible book, but I think I'll finish the GOT series first

I feel like I have read something else of his in the past, but I don't know what it was.

I just got a deal on all 5 of the GOT books off Amazon on Prime day, so I am considering re-reading them. I read GRRM's The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and it made me realize how much I missed his writing. Read that one when you get a chance.

 

[ill]

By the way, welcome to you fellow Phillies fan. Hop onto our board!

thanks man, I will.

 

[Omar 382]

I feel like I have read something else of his in the past, but I don't know what it was.

I just got a deal on all 5 of the GOT books off Amazon on Prime day, so I am considering re-reading them. I read GRRM's The Knight of the Seven Kingdoms and it made me realize how much I missed his writing. Read that one when you get a chance.

If you want some GOT mixed with The Martian, check out the Red Rising trilogy. I have yet to read the last book, but the first two are amazing

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

I'm finally getting around to reading Stormlight Archive, got sucked in right away. I really like Sanderson's style.

 

[ill]

I'm finally getting around to reading Stormlight Archive, got sucked in right away. I really like Sanderson's style.

Damn good books, I really enjoyed them. Been tempted to try his Mistborn series as well, but just haven't yet.

Finished the 2 The Kingkiller Chronicle books, going to get the 2.5 book soon. Rothfuss is another solid fantasy author

 

[Used 2 B Hu]

Damn good books, I really enjoyed them. Been tempted to try his Mistborn series as well, but just haven't yet.

Finished the 2 The Kingkiller Chronicle books, going to get the 2.5 book soon. Rothfuss is another solid fantasy author

I just got a rec on Rothfuss from somebody else who has read a lot of Sanderson. Will def check out someday

 

[ill]

I just got a rec on Rothfuss from somebody else who has read a lot of Sanderson. Will def check out someday

I started listening to Rothfuss's podcast with the dude who created Cards Against Humanity. It's pretty fun to listen to. Both are really smart dudes.

 

[Omar 382]

My review of A Storm of Swords on Audibles.com:

"ACTUAL RATING: 3/5 stars
ROUNDED RATING: 3/5 stars
SPOILER LEVEL: VERY MINOR

A Storm of Swords is the third novel in George R.R. Martin's widely popular A Song of Ice and Fire, and its least engaging. To be sure, the book gets it licks in, particularly in the phenomenal character development of emerging anti-hero Jamie Lannister, that I will touch on later. While still a recommendation of mine, unfortunately, the great parts of ASOS are bogged down by Martin's meandering about on the day-to-day happenings of Sawmill Tarly, Davos Seaworth, Bran, and the worst- Jon Snow.

I have only seen the first season of HBO's Game of Thrones, as I wanted to read the novels first, but I do understand that Jon Snow's character has received acclaim in the broadcast both from critics and audiences. I just don't view him as a very interesting character, and yet I have read probably close to 75 chapters on him in these three books. In this edition, we see him conflicted over "honor" in who he serves- and the vowels of chastity he has taken. Unlike Severus Snape- whose life as a double-agent became the crux of the later Harry Potter novels, Jon's secrecy is not very intriguing to the reader. He is not likely to be found out, and unlike Snape, no great matter is at stake in his endeavors. Furthermore, Snape's (and I'm just focusing on him because he's the best- but you could look at Jason Bourne or Brad Pitt's character in Inglorious Basterds) allegiance was never revealed to the reader until the climax of the series; meanwhile, we know who Jon is allegiant to right from the beginning.

A final note on Jon is that the matter his conflict lies in- "honor," is largely inconsequential to most readers. Had his conflict lied in courage, like Sergeant Jim Gordon; or in morality, like Ethan Hawke's character in Training Day, I would have been more engaged. But just using a subjective idea like "honor" as the swinging-point for a character in the wilderness is not my idea of good drama.

But when we get a reprieve from the uninteresting characters of the book, we are treated to some great characters. Tyrion remains as witty as ever, and the situations Martin puts him in make the reader laugh quite often at what a raw deal he has gotten in life. But the major success of this book, and this series so far as I have read, is the humanization and moralization of Jamie Lannister. When we first meet Jamie in A Game of Thrones, he is committing ince$t and pushes a young boy off of a ledge. In this installment, however, we see that he only pushed Bran over the ledge out of true, unflinching, and probably not-fully-reciprocated love. Martin does such a good job with the dialogue that the readers eventually asks: "Is ince$t such a bad thing in this world?" Through witty dialogue with Brine (the winch), and his ultimate aid and truth-telling to Tyrion in the book's end, we come to love and root for Jamie, leaving us begging for more of him in the future books.

I gave A Game of Thrones 4/5 stars, and A Clash of Kings 3.5/5, so this was my least favorite book in the series so far. But when this book works, it's at its highest in the whole series. Maybe Martin should trim the list of characters down to four or five people in future books before readers give up on the series when subjected to over 300 pages of characters we simply don't give a damn about."

 

[ill]

the girlfriend stopped at the library yesterday after work and came home with a stack, one being for me. If I ever get through Seveneves, I guess I have this waiting for me.

 

[Omar 382]

the girlfriend stopped at the library yesterday after work and came home with a stack, one being for me. If I ever get through Seveneves, I guess I have this waiting for me.

View attachment 145052

Ill, I heard the 4th and 5th ASOIAF books fall off.Any truth to that?

 

[ill]

Ill, I heard the 4th and 5th ASOIAF books fall off.Any truth to that?

I think the 4th (Feast for Crows?) was not generally well received. I liked Dance with Dragons, but I know that Feast was a drop.

Reading your last review, I do think you will have a downward trend in your ratings before it goes back up for Dance.

I just got this bad boy from Amazon Prime Day, so I might have to think about rereading them.

 

[Omar 382]

I think the 4th (Feast of Crows?) was not generally well received. I liked Dance with Dragons, but I know that FoC was a drop.

Reading your last review, I do think you will have a downward trend in your ratings before it goes back up for Dance.

My fucking laptop changed like 8 words in my review