Books Read: 2011

[brunoafh]

I'm waiting for R. Scott Bakker's The White-Luck Warrior. Anyone read his fantasy series, The Prince of Nothing? It's quite good, the best modern fantasy I've read. Anyone into philosophical writing in a dark fantasy setting, that kind of reads like a pseudo history ought to look into it. Excellent writing, great characters, good stuff.

Haven't read an awful lot of books this year as of yet, but I'm in the midst of Paul Kearney's Monarchies of God series. Been meaning to read it for awhile, it's not bad.

[DobbyDobs123]

The Phone Book. 512 area code addition.

Not the easiest read, mind you. Around the J's it got rough. At the T's I damn near gave up. But when I finally reached that last advertisement for affordable Italian food, I definitely felt the enormity of my accomplishment.

867-5309, ya'll.

In what way was reading the phone book heinous and wicked? Did you feel as if you had hurt someone or something in the course of your reading? Or was the phone book so long boring you felt as if it was some sort of horrible penance for your sins?

I knew a guy who memorized 3 different phone books. We tested him on it and he wasn't kidding 0.o
But I'm still convinced some sort of mathematical formula had to be involved.

[Dakinggamer87]

Books I've read so far:

MCSA/MCSE: 70-270: Installing, Configuring, and Administering Windows XP Professional

Currently reading:
MCSA/MCSE: 70-290: Managing and Maintaining a Microsoft Windows Server 2003 Environment

All tech books so far but I will try and get more variety throughout the year.

[CFFJR]

I'm waiting for R. Scott Bakker's The White-Luck Warrior. Anyone read his fantasy series, The Prince of Nothing? It's quite good, the best modern fantasy I've read. Anyone into philosophical writing in a dark fantasy setting, that kind of reads like a pseudo history ought to look into it. Excellent writing, great characters, good stuff.

Haven't read an awful lot of books this year as of yet, but I'm in the midst of Paul Kearney's Monarchies of God series. Been meaning to read it for awhile, it's not bad.

I've read some of the The Prince of Nothing. Right around the middle of the second book I found it hard to continue and haven't picked it up since.

Its difficult for me to enjoy while Kellhus is built up as this unstoppable god of a character that always gets what he wants, how he wants it. I eventually looked up some spoilers out of impatience and found it was more of that.

The quality of the writing is something else, Bakker is amazing in that regard. Everything else is fantastic, in fact. But Kellhus really brings it down for me. This is the first time I've read a fantasy book and thought "that's so fake".

I don't mean offense or anything, I'm glad you enjoy the books (I actually do too, were it not for that one element) I just figured I'd talk about it since it was brought up.

[brunoafh]

I've read some of the The Prince of Nothing. Right around the middle of the second book I found it hard to continue and haven't picked it up since.

Its difficult for me to enjoy while Kellhus is built up as this unstoppable god of a character that always gets what he wants, how he wants it. I eventually looked up some spoilers out of impatience and found it was more of that.

The quality of the writing is something else, Bakker is amazing in that regard. Everything else is fantastic, in fact. But Kellhus really brings it down for me. This is the first time I've read a fantasy book and thought "that's so fake".

I don't mean offense or anything, I'm glad you enjoy the books (I actually do too, were it not for that one element) I just figured I'd talk about it since it was brought up.

No offense taken at all, I'm glad to chat with someone about the series.

The second book seems to be the turning point for most, with Kellhus being the main reason. Given the task Bakker gave himself (to build up a character with the level of control and persuasion over the human spirit to the degree of Kellhus), I think he pulled it off fairly well. It does feel a bit overdone at times, but given the circumstances that are surrounding the characters, and Earwa's take on religion, I think it was just about right. Kellhus is going to make or break the story for some readers though, and I get that. He's not exactly likeable.

The first two books are the best though, so if you didn't even want to finish the second one, there's not much ahead of you unless you really love the series. His new follow-up trilogy (Aspect-Emperor) is much less interesting (so far) than the highly impressive Prince of Nothing trilogy.

[Ack]

Hmm, I sort of forgot about this thread. I've only read a few more books this year, but here they are:

B is for Bad Poetry, by Pamela August Russell
The 13 Crimes of Science Fiction, Edited by Isaac Asimov
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon, by Stephen King
Stranger in a Strange Land, by Robert A. Heinlein

I already spoke earlier about Pamela Russell's book. Asimov's collection was hit or miss with the stories, but each set out to convey one of the 12 different types of mystery stories, along with the 13th scifi only "psychic detective" story. I would debate whether some of them were really science fiction, as some straddled multiple borders with horror and fantasy. Still, I enjoyed my time with it.

King's book was good, though I continually felt the girl was older than she actually was in her decisions...perhaps she was just extremely mature, but I felt at times she made choices that some adults couldn't have handled. I've enjoyed most of what I've read from King, and this one was no exception. In particular, the God of the Lost piqued my interest.

At first I was extremely hesitant with Heinlein's book, and there were transitions in there I had great difficulty accepting, such as the sudden jump from Jubal's home to the circus. While some of the book is certainly dated to the time it was written, I don't think it deserves the criticism I've seen on some websites, which focused on the "misogynist themes" a bit much. Sure, it offers some ideas on religion, sexuality, and human culture that folks may consider dated and that many may find uncomfortable to think about, but I still liked the book and agreed with at least some of what it had to say.

I still liked Starship Troopers more, but that's just me.

[GamerMON]

So far this year I have only read Moon is a Harsh Mistress. Stranger in a Strange Land is in my pile Heinlin books I got from Half Price Books. Currently, I am reading Paul of Dune by Brian Herbert (hardback was $3 from Big Lots). I can't believe I have succumb to read interquel but I am all out of Dune books to read.

[Croooow!]

I just finished Unbroken by Laura Hillenbrand. This is the kind of book I just devour; for some reason nonfiction narratives like this grip me much more the fiction. The story follows the life of Louie Zamperini and his experiences from running in the Olympics, being a bombardier in WWII, being lost at sea and surviving for 47 days, and his experience in a Japanese POW camp. Highly recommended.

[saturnfan]

1. Disquisition of Government - John C. Calhoun
2. Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
3. Breaking the Backcountry: Seven Year's War in Virgina and Pennsylvania, 1754-1765 -Matthew C. Ward
4. Christianity in Latin America: A History - Ondina and Justo Gonzalez
5. The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America - Walter R. Borneman
6. Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570
7. John C. Calhoun and the Price of Union - John Niven
8. Hall of Mirrors - Laura A. Lewis
9. Inka Bodies and the Body of Christ - Carolyn Dean (half read)
10. Texas Revolution - William C. Binkley
11. Wild Yankees - Paul B. Moyer (new)

Basically about this:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yankee-Pennamite_Wars

[saturnfan]

1. Disquisition of Government - John C. Calhoun
2. Darkly Dreaming Dexter - Jeff Lindsay
3. Breaking the Backcountry: Seven Year's War in Virgina and Pennsylvania, 1754-1765 -Matthew C. Ward
4. Christianity in Latin America: A History - Ondina and Justo Gonzalez
5. The French and Indian War: Deciding the Fate of North America - Walter R. Borneman
6. Ambivalent Conquests: Maya and Spaniard in Yucatan, 1517-1570
7. John C. Calhoun and the Price of Union - John Niven
8. Hall of Mirrors - Laura A. Lewis
9. Inka Bodies and the Body of Christ - Carolyn Dean (half read)
10. Texas Revolution - William C. Binkley
11. Wild Yankees - Paul B. Moyer
12. Fries's Rebellion: The Enduring Struggle for the American Revolution - Paul Douglas Newman (new)


The standard scholarly work on Fries's Rebellion as well as being the first full lengthen study on the event since 1899. On the surface, the story of Fries's Rebellion is actually incredibly boring as it was 100% peaceful and rational; ie no deaths, taring and feathering, random beatings or even the burning of stuff. However, the way the federal government handled the "rebellion" was a disaster and it was the turning point for the federalist party who would soon die into obscurity.

Therefor it is a good book for those interested in early American political development.