Hey!! Let's get some action going! What are we reading?

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

The guy the played Dr House writes books?

BOb

He's also a jazz musician, if you didn't know that.

[gmw]

Originally Posted by Quake1028

I put some thoughts in spoilers, just in case.

Spoiler:

1.There is a huge twist/shock/surprise in AGoT. Think about it. You sure you don't remember anything? If not, the book wasn't for you and I would abandon the series, because the characters obviously didn't resonate with you.

2.Starting with A Feast For Crows, the focus gets a bit narrower (longer chapters, less characters).

I'll try to be vague too, but inside spoilers just in case.

Spoiler:

The last scene with Daenerys is what I thought might have been supposed to be the surprise/shock, but that was strongly hinted at right from the time of her wedding (earlier really, but it became obvious at that point). It came about in a rather more gruesome way that I might have expected, but wasn't exactly a surprise. Or perhaps the surprise was that it did actually happen in this book? (Sorry, couldn't help that last sentence, it just slipped out. )

The Stark children all seemed to come out pretty much as I might have expected after the first couple of chapters with them. What happened to Stark senior wasn't so predictable, but no great shock once you got the hang of where GRRM was heading.

Petyr Baelish remains something of an enigma to me, so I'm wondering if perhaps I missed something on that front. My favourite character is Tyrion, also an enigma, but one that feels much more real and understandable. He was also the most unique, least stereotypical, unpredictable and yet consistent. I do like the way you can never quite decide whether to like him or hate him.

The importance of the early mystery of the knife effectively faded into insignificance, and we don't appear to have any firm resolution on that yet, if it even matters any more.

And after all the build-up at the Wall ...

Spoiler:

nothing happened.

The biggest surprises seemed to be all the things that didn't happen ... or not in this book.

If it seems I've missed something important then I'd welcome a PM (rather than risk getting more explicit in the open list and spoiling it for others).

I think I'll put off reading more until I find the right mood ... though, of course, it can help just knowing what sort of thing to expect so you don't come at a book looking for something different. There's certainly nothing wrong with GRRM's writing skill, it was all very well done ... it was all just too spaced out or something to get me involved/absorbed.

[Nyssa]

Originally Posted by HarryT

Try something like Joyce's "Ulysses", or Virginia Woolf's "To the Lighthouse". But I warn you - they're hard going. They weren't written to be light reading. They were written for you to appreciate the "cleverness" of the author.

Thank you, again. I have been curious about Woolf, so I may take a look at that one. I know I won't get through "Ulysses" any time soon.

In the mean time, I'll use Ms. Austen for the "Classic" category.

[Yapyap]

I've been largely just lurking in this thread, but it's so interesting to see what people are reading!

I finally picked up The Ask and the Answer, second book in the YA dystopian / science fiction Chaos Walking trilogy by Patrick Ness, after reading the first book (The Knife of Never Letting Go) last summer - I found it good (I can't say "enjoyed" it, really, as these aren't particularly feel-good books) but it was a bit of a struggle to read at times plus I felt like something lighter afterwards.

The second book seems to be much easier to get into, though - probably because I'm now familiar with the style (a lot of it is first person narrative by an illiterate protagonist, with many words spelled out semi-phonetically), and because I'm familiar with the world.

[bcgirl]

Originally Posted by Joan M

Ah yes, I remember it well. Father worked, mother stayed home, we practiced duck and cover in the hall outside of our classrooms so that we would be protected when the expected nuclear strike occurred.

At first, I thought this was one of those parody books, but now I'm assuming that's just a typo.

I started The Hunger Games without realizing it was a trilogy and then bullheadedly slogged through to the end, even though the sheen had kind of worn off after the first volume. Followed it with Life of Pi for a real change of pace. I hadn't read any book reviews before or after. Was at first entranced and then rather dragged down by the violence.

I've set myself a goal of familiarizing myself with some good science fiction, so am open to all suggestions. I can't think of a single title I've read in my lifetime up until now. Odd, since I recall being hooked on Twilight Zone and Outer Limits TV shows. Anyway, I've just finished Psion by Joan Vinge. Not much character development, especially of the main villain. Maybe I'll give Vernor Vinge a try next. It's kind of overwhelming trying to set a course.

Yes, I fixed it already. But there is a book called '50 shades of chicken" maybe if the gray is boring I switch to this one

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by bcgirl

Yes, I fixed it already. But there is a book called '50 shades of chicken" maybe if the gray is boring I switch to this one

Chicken soup for the .....ah....um.....

[BenG]

Just started Ishmael by Barbara Hambly, which, oddly enough seems to be a crossover between Star Trek and another 60s TV series, Here Come the Brides.
The only obvious connection is that actor Mark Lenard played both Sarek and Aaron Stempel.

[WT Sharpe]

Originally Posted by pilotbob

The guy the played Dr House writes books?

BOb

Originally Posted by pdurrant

Well, a book, so far. He sings the blues too (his album reached no.2 in the UK charts).

I remember him fondly as Bertie Wooster, and, of course, as The Prince Regent in Blackadder the Third.

I didn't even know he was British until the day I realized Bertie Wooster and House were the same guy. They seem nothing—or at least very little—alike, although you can see Hugh Laurie in both if you look close enough. He is, as they say, multifaceted.

[WT Sharpe]

Of course, everyone knows Jeeves (Stephen Fry) is an author many times over.

[kennyc]

Yeah but I didn't know Stephen Fry was Jeeves.

[pdurrant]

Have you never seen Fry and Laurie's Jeeves and Wooster series? Go and get it on DVD or Blue-Ray at once!

[WT Sharpe]

...or rent the episodes at Amazon.

[kennyc]

Originally Posted by WT Sharpe

...or rent the episodes at Amazon.

Good thought, was hoping they'd be free for prime, but no-go.

99 cents per episode.

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by kennyc

Yeah but I didn't know Stephen Fry was Jeeves.

In real life they met at Oxbridge where they were room mates.

Now that's a talented quirk of fate!!!

[Lynx-lynx]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

Over one million hits!

What are YOU reading today?



Don
(Moderator)

Is this something for the Guiness Book of Records to know about? Maybe, eh. (I'm quite serious in this point)

Very jolly impressive