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What are You Reading Right now?

Discussion in 'Books & Comics' started by Suspiria, Aug 26, 2015.

  1. Use the Falchion

    Use the Falchion Jedi Contrarian

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    Reread Skyward and Starsight on Sunday and Defending Elysium last night in anticipation for Sunreach today. The first two books had something of a reversal effect on me. While I still love Skyward and think it's one of Brandon's best works, this readthrough wasn't nearly as fun. I was taking my time with it, and it felt far longer than it did the first time.* I was also switching around the soundtrack a lot more than the first time. Most of the songs stayed with their climactic moments, but some songs didn't feel as if they belonged as much, which was sad.

    Meanwhile Starsight, which I haven't read since my first reading, was a LOT better this time around. Sure, my original complaints are still there, but they didn't bother me as much.

    Defending Elysium was also a fun read, but it was a lot shorter than I remember it being.

    All of these prepared me for Sunreach today, and overall this story gives me what I wanted and people expected out of Starsight. It also does a great job at blending Brandon's signature style with Janci's own personal touch. (One that isn't as noticeable as Mary Robinette or as grim as Steven Bohls.) I'm excited for the next novella next month, and I can't wait to see where the Cytoverse goes.

    upload_2021-9-28_17-42-9.jpeg
    upload_2021-9-28_17-42-31.jpeg
    [​IMG]


    As it stands, I've already planned out the books I want to read next month. I'm not sure I'll get through them, but I'm going to try. Of the six, only two are fantasy, and both are books that I started and need to finish. The others involve me branching out into different genres, and one classic. Let's see how that goes...
     
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  2. PrincessLeiaCB3

    PrincessLeiaCB3 The Princess that was Promised
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    I just read this book and was pleasantly surprised:

    [​IMG]

    As someone who has attended several comic conventions during the last few years, I felt as if this book was a pretty good description of the environment one lives while attending one. Of course there are the panels, the celebrity photo-ops and autographs, the exhibitors stands to get your attention but the experience of meeting other fellow geek fans is truly important.

    And regardless the discourse that might exist in all types of fandom, I appreciated that the author acknowledge the different point of views from fans without focusing too much on it. Generally speaking, the perspective of this book is focusing on the positives rather than the negative side of the fandom. On how a person attending on its own can find themselves as part of a larger community and find kindred spirits to hang out with. And this book meets its purpose: on bringing a nice perspective on attending a con and enjoying the experience, not only the activities per se, but the people you get to meet when you go to one.
     
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  3. NunbNuts

    NunbNuts Rebel Official

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    Yeah I had the same feelings about it but it was interesting still. Too much time spent on the minutiae of his financial dealings, Lucasfilm hierarchy and construction permits and not enough about the movies for my liking. Plus I think the writer secretly wanted to do a Coppola bio because whenever he shows up it pretty much turns into the Francis Show.
     
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  4. NunbNuts

    NunbNuts Rebel Official

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    Since it's October I started a novelization of a classic John Carpenter film

    [​IMG]

    I'm also reading this book which is pretty entertaining

    [​IMG]

    This guy is mainly known for his voice which opens the Stones most famous live album Get Yer Ya Ya's Out where he introduced them by the much-debated title of "Greatest Rock And Roll Band In The World" as well as his introductions/announcements on Grateful Dead live albums/bootlegs. Or his most notable appearance in the documentary about Altamont, Gimme Shelter. He was the Stones tour manager for the '69 American tour which culminated in the disaster at Altamont Speedway (where George Lucas was coincidentally working as a hired hand with the documentary film crew... but far away from the danger), for which he ultimately ended up the scapegoat and left behind in California. Luckily the Grateful Dead took him in and hid him in one of the drummer's barns while they smoothed things out with the Hell's Angel's who also wanted to make him the scapegoat, only in a worse way. Then finally when the coast was clear the Dead were like, well you're stuck in California and broke so you can be our manager. Needless to say traveling with those two bands makes this not a book for the kiddies but it's hilarious just how disorganized the rock music business was back then. And it's even better because Sam has a hilarious way with words, either in interviews or in this book. He was the best part of that Amazon documentary about the Dead.
     
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  5. Use the Falchion

    Use the Falchion Jedi Contrarian

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    upload_2021-10-9_18-54-33.jpeg

    Tried out The Heist this week. I used to have a copy when the book first came out, but my sister took it - with my permission and blessing - and enjoyed it far more than I ever could at the time. Since then, I haven't missed it...but a new book in the series came out during the summer, and I thought I'd actually try the series out. It...wasn't for me. The chemistry felt more internal than external, and when it was external it felt creepy. I want to like this book, but I'm setting it aside for now in order out try out a few other things.

    In terms of comics, today I picked up Go Go Power Rangers Volume 9 - the finale to the series' run and completing my collection - as well as The Next Batman: Second Son. My brother-in-law was reading it earlier and seemed to like it. I probably won't get to it until next week though.

    Just like how MMPR was my Comic of the Year last year IIRC, GGPR is my contender for this year. It has very little competition that isn't Power Rangers...outside of this little comic called Invincible. Still, the favor is with the long-form revival, not the high quality deconstruction for this dude.

    upload_2021-10-9_19-1-21.jpeg

    upload_2021-10-9_19-1-44.jpeg
     
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  6. Embo and His Pet Anooba

    Embo and His Pet Anooba Jedi Commander

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    indian mythology
     
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  7. Angelman

    Angelman Servant of the Whills -- Slave to the Muses
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    Nice! Make sure to read some Krishna stories, 'cause that dude's a funny rascal! :D
     
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  8. urrutiap

    urrutiap Rebel Commander

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    Im currently reading the old 1980s horror novel The Nest by Gregory Douglas
     
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  9. NunbNuts

    NunbNuts Rebel Official

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    I'm pretty sure I've seen that movie, sounds like it might be a fun October read.
     
  10. NunbNuts

    NunbNuts Rebel Official

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    [​IMG]

    I generally don't read a lot of books like this or true crime, Zodiac is the only other one I can think of reading. I was interested in this book though because this incident is brought up a lot but most everything I've seen or read was pretty wildly sensationalist. This book is supposedly (I haven't gotten far enough to verify) a sober examination of the timeline/evidence and some possible/reasonable explanations.
     
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  11. Use the Falchion

    Use the Falchion Jedi Contrarian

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    [​IMG]

    It was going to be an "end-of-year" gift for a student (I've been buying books for them for the past couple of weeks in preparation), but it was a little too long for them at this moment. And after reading it, I'm not sure it would have been a good fit anyways. I personally liked the book, but it wasn't my favorite either. It's a solid read if you're a fan of the Descendants series, or if you like Once Upon a Time and don't mind the Magical School tropes. But yeah, this school is THE Worst. Even Hogwarts is better than this school. At least Hogwarts and the Sorting Hat, while dividing students up by their traits and heritage, gives students agency over which House they end up in. This place arbitrarily decides, and never lets students do what they want. Also, the students are supposed to be around the age of 12 IIRC, but they feel FAR more like they're 15-16 in their interests, actions, and wardrobe. You don't really imagine a twelve year old in a kimono or a strapless black dress, do you?

    Also, the ending is...interesting... I'm going to spoil parts of the series below - my ultimate score is about a 7.5/10. And, like Harry Potter, the soundtrack for this book is VersaEmerge's EP "Perceptions" and their only full-length album "Fixed At Zero." (My biggest regret was trying other soundtracks before these two.)

    So, the two best friends are twin sisters. It's not surprising, but it's a little weird given the romance subtext between the two girls. It was so strong I was SURE they'd end up as girlfriends. And knowing that, after two books of this subtext it's revealed their twins is a little awkward if you ask me. At least Star Wars didn't lean hard into the Luke-Han-Leia love triangle, and in Game of Thrones incest came up in major plot points. Here it's just...well, it was probably written more tastefully than I'm fearing.

    This book wasn't on my list of books to read this month, but my list will be moved to December over the holidays if I'm lucky. I have too much between now and then to read more than maybe three books, one of which will be Sanderson's new book next month.
     
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  12. Lord of the Rens

    Lord of the Rens Gatekeeper & Avatar Maker

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    Derp fix 101.jpg

    Great resource for dealing with and living in, clown world.​
     
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  13. Use the Falchion

    Use the Falchion Jedi Contrarian

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    [​IMG]

    ReDawn aka another novella the length of a short novel under Brandon Sanderson's belt (even if he didn't do most of the writing for this). My quick and dirty review:

    I liked Sunreach. I LOVED ReDawn. It does everything right, and expands everything in a natural and somewhat horrifying way for the best of reasons. I'm honestly more excited for Evershore now than I am Cytonic.
    (It pairs quite well with Band-Maid's newest single, "Sense," which was also released today.)
     
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  14. Addi Ras

    Addi Ras MASTER TEA MAKER
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    I’m just finishing the Emperor Series (For about the 6th time) by Conn Iggulden. It’s about the Life of Julius Caesar & obviously given how many times I have read it I absolutely love this series.
    I have 1 book left which deals with the events after his assassination.

    Then next up is Horseman which is set 30 years after the event of Sleepy Hollow.
     
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  15. LadyMusashi

    LadyMusashi Archwizard Woo-Woo-in-Chief
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    I just finished Zhan's Chaos Rising and started Greater Good, which I haven't read when it was released.

    Greater Good.jpg

    Just in time, before LESSER EVIL is released on November 16. :D
     
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  16. NunbNuts

    NunbNuts Rebel Official

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    [​IMG]

    I grabbed this at a used book store a couple years ago out of curiosity. The cheesy cover almost dissuaded me but I'm a big fan of the original classic and have enjoyed a bunch of spinoff/continuations like Last Days Of Thunder Child, War Of The Worlds Global Dispatches and the great/strange Sherlock Holmes' War Of The Worlds. I wasn't dying for an update or anything, I didn't care much for the Spielberg film and since this was released almost at the exact same date I guessed this was some author's attempt to cash in. Not 2 weeks ago I looked at this on my shelf and was like, why did I buy this garbage? This weekend I was just in the mood for some dumb/fun disposable entertainment and this is doing the trick and so far more entertaining than the movie. There's at least more interesting stuff going on like a rover mission to Mars that apparently sets the locals off then the flashes start, soon they start picking up the ships coming and getting Hubble images and now they're launching a shuttle up to (besides die I assume) get closer and try to send back better pictures while everybody on Earth is panicking.
     
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  17. urrutiap

    urrutiap Rebel Commander

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    two books im reading for the rest of this month and to December

    Heretics of Dune
    Forrest Gump and the sequel book
     
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  18. Addi Ras

    Addi Ras MASTER TEA MAKER
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    8F503162-9894-438F-8865-E87149154DBC.jpeg

    So I’m nearly half way through Lesser Evil & so far it’s good this might just be my favourite out of the 6 new Thrawn books ( currently that’s held by the very first one of the new books.
    It’s definitely a slow burn book but then that suits the character.
    Also there is definitely a sense of impending doom for Thrawn in this book as we know where he ends up at the end of the book ( Exiled from the Ascendancy) just not exactly how he gets there.
     
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  19. Lock_S_Foils

    Lock_S_Foils Red Leader

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    I am starting the Dune series.....yeah yeah I know I call myself a sci-fi/fantasy fan but have never read Dune.....as Michael Scott would say...sue me!! LOL

    Before reading Dune these are my favorite sci-fi books:

    The Forever War by Joe Haldeman (Dune will need to be really really good to top this book)

    The Riverworld series by Philip Jose Farmer (this series really really really is begging for movie(s) to be made)

    Fantasy

    LOTR of course
    Narnia
    The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant the Unbeliever

    From the Warhammer 40K Universe

    Cadia Stands (a kick a$$ book that also would be great for a stand alone movie)
     
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  20. Rogues1138

    Rogues1138 Jedi Sentinel - Army of Light
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    NO ONE, has the authority to say whether or not you're a sci-fi fan by what books you have read or haven't read!!! ( today people sit and listen to audio books and say they have read the book...)

    I was trained as a book cover illustrator because I adored sci-fi book covers. I joined the sci-fi book club to get as much books as possible.

    I have tons of sci-fi books on my shelf that I've only partially read. Why, you may ask? Because I'm trying to find inspiration from the work to create a piece of art.

    Of all the sci-fi books I own I may have only read 40% of my haul, didn't finish Lord of the Rings (BLASPHEMY/SACRILEGE)... should I still be considered a hard sci-fi or fantasy fan?

    Nonetheless, I have a huge lovely hardcover on my bookshelf... :D as well as artist books that have depicted amazing illustrations of that series.

    Terry Goodkind who wrote the Sword of Truth series is an artist and an illustrator. Keith Parkinson's cover art to his series is outstanding... any who, I know what you meant... I may have gone a bit too far... CRAZY OLD WIZARD rant over... hehe

    Cheers,
    Rogue
     
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