200 replies to this topic

[Ulf Imwiehe]

I’m currently reading Blödmaschinen – Die Fabrikation der Stupidität (roughly translated: Idiot-Machines – The Fabrication of Stupidity) by Georg Seeßlen and Markus Metz. Seeßlen and Metz, two German journalists and cultural critics whose work I enjoyed in the past, take a long hard look at the role the media plays in keeping (German) society dumb and docile. I’m just a few pages in and the text is still fairly light on the cultural pessimism the polemic title implies but I’m pretty sure the sparks are about to start flying soon.

[Nicholas Taggart]

Just looking at a picture of the last lines of The Great Gatsby in Fitzgerald's handwriting

Spoiler

Interesting handwriting

[Paul F]

Details on the new JK Rowling book: http://www.thebookse...ack-comedy.html

J K Rowling's new novel for adults is to be titled The Casual Vacancy and will be published worldwide on 27th September. In the UK it will be a £20 hardback or £11.99 e-book, plus available as an audio download (£20) and CD (£30).

Publisher Little, Brown said the book was the "blackly comic, thought-provoking and constantly surprising" tale of what happens in the English village of Pagford after parish council member Barry Fairweather dies unexpectedly.

"Pagford is, seemingly, an English idyll, with a cobbled market square and an ancient abbey, but what lies behind the pretty façade is a town at war," the publisher said.

"Rich at war with poor, teenagers at war with their parents, wives at war with their husbands, teachers at war with their pupils...Pagford is not what it first seems. And the empty seat left by Barry on the parish council soon becomes the catalyst for the biggest war the town has yet seen. Who will triumph in an election fraught with passion, duplicity and unexpected revelations?"

[Will]

Finished Olen Steinhauer's An American Spy, the third and possibly final novel in his Tourist series. Absolutely fantastic.

If you enjoy spy fiction like le Carre's best you'll enjoy this trilogy.

[Christian U]

Details on the new JK Rowling book: http://www.thebookse...ack-comedy.html

Sounds fun.

Kudos to Rowling for writing something for adults, and something this different from HP. The prospect of writing a "serious" book must've been terrifying.

[Paul F]

The new printing of Kim Newman's Anno Dracula: The Bloody Red Baron is out, so I'm starting on that now. Also reading Margaret Atwood's The Handmaid's Tale.

[Nicholas Taggart]

I'm reading Steve Martin's An Object of Beauty. Really enjoying it so far. Interesting look at the contemporary art scene in the 90s.

I am also near the end of The Wine-Dark Sea by Patrick O'Brian.

[Ben the Obiwomble]

Finished Snuff!

Took me 5 months because I was deliberately spinning it out to make it last longer! 378 pages of awesome writing in every respect.

[Rory Abel]

Started on Red Harvest yesterday. God I love Dashiell Hammett.

[James Dodsworth]

Started on "Tales from Development Hell" that Carlos lent me. Interesting stuff so far about Total Recall and Lord of the Rings.

[Ogul]

I just finished the Infinity Blade ebook novella by Brandon Sanderson. It was pretty good, especially considering that it was based on an iPad game that basically had no story to it.It serves as a bridge between the first game and the upcoming second, sort of fleshing out this world, which is sort of a "post sci-fi" world, where science has evolved to the point where it's considered to be magic. Having only played a few minutes of the game, I didn't know much of how it turned out, but the book does a decent job of explaining how the game's story played out, without getting overly expository about it. It instead tells the story as a young man who lived with a single purpose to his life, completed that purpose, and now has no idea where to go, only to find out that he may have caused more problems than he'd solved. Worth the read, especially with it's low price and relatively short page count.

[Dave Wallace]

Started on "Tales from Development Hell" that Carlos lent me. Interesting stuff so far about Total Recall and Lord of the Rings.

Do tell! I love hearing behind the scenes details.

[Ulf Imwiehe]

I’m on the final stretch of the third Sandman Slim novel, Aloha from Hell by Richard Kadrey and I’m fairly disappointed – quite the drop-off in quality after the very entertaining first two books. The plot is ok if a bit jumbled but the execution could have used some serious editing. Plus, the banter feels forced, the jokes aren’t all that funny and some of the main character's decisions make no sense whatsoever. For all my nagging I still liked some of Kadrey’s ideas, like Mustang Sally, L.A.’s resident spirit of freeways and thoroughfares.

[Rory Abel]

I’m on the final stretch of the third Sandman Slim novel, Aloha from Hell by Richard Kadrey and I’m fairly disappointed – quite the drop-off in quality after the very entertaining first two books. The plot is ok if a bit jumbled but the execution could have used some serious editing. Plus, the banter feels forced, the jokes aren’t all that funny and some of the main character's decisions make no sense whatsoever. For all my nagging I still liked some of Kadrey’s ideas, like Mustang Sally, L.A.’s resident spirit of freeways and thoroughfares.

I thought the book didn't work for because I had read his other novel Butcher Bird, which is very very similar, so it's interesting to hear that it didn't work for you either.

[Ulf Imwiehe]

I thought the book didn't work for because I had read his other novel Butcher Bird, which is very very similar, so it's interesting to hear that it didn't work for you either.

Yeah, the plot feels cobbled together from the scraps of early Clive Barker novels with a helping of Hellblazer thrown in for good measure. It’s not terrible per se but I think the first two books were better.

[Ulf Imwiehe]

I’m embarking on a Robert E. Howard reading spree starting with Kull – Exile of Atlantis.

[Steve O'Connor]

I'm reading Bond books that aren't by Ian Fleming. Read Sebastian Faulk's Devil May Care which was enjoyable despite faltering a bit and running out of ideas towards the end. Currently reading Licence Renewed by John Gardner. It reads like a fairly conventional and unremarkable thriller that James Bond just happens to be in. It was, however, Gardner's first stab at Bond, so I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt. Carte Blance by Jeffrey Deaver next. I've read mixed reviews, but I'm looking forward to it.

[GordonM]

Started on "Tales from Development Hell" that Carlos lent me. Interesting stuff so far about Total Recall and Lord of the Rings.

Really enjoyed that book. Hughes' follow-up The Greatest Sci-fi Movies Never Made is worth picking up too.

[stephanie familiar]

reading Mirror Mirror. hoping it's as interesting as Wicked.

[Ben the Obiwomble]

Having had them recommended here, decided to try out the first of the Dresden Files, Storm Front - quite fun, will probably check out the next one at some point. Though the next likely try-out will be the first of Carey's Castor books, also MW-recommended.