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

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by siraks

rippin through those c.s. lewis books.
everytime i look here i see you post another !!

i'm 66% through mockingjay overall the series as a whole is pretty good but the first book is top notch

me, everytime I look at your posts (which are pretty rare) I see you still read Hunger Games

yep, agree with you on that. Hunger games is awesome because it features brand new, interesting stuffs (annual anniversary in which teenagers participate in killing each other). Catching fire is a thumb-down compared to its prequel, nothing's mind-blowing. But it's a preparation for Mockingjay, so people has to read it if they don't want to miss such a terrific ending. The last book is much better than Hunger games, not because everything is brought to a peak, a crisis, but because it deepens the readers' thinking about that fictional world of Hunger Games event.

Originally Posted by Latinandgreek

I think that I will start on "The Kingkiller Chronicles" next, seeing the great reviews that it has received here so far.

if you don't mind waiting for the last book to be published, you should read it soon. when I finished the 2nd book, I thought, "What? This can't be the end! How come..." and then I felt so uneasy I googled it and they said "Kingkiller chronicles is a trilogy... the last book will be released on..."

I hate waiting I should've checked if it's fully published! First Riyria, now Kingkiller. I hate waiting, I hate waiting...

Originally Posted by Iridal

I've heard some great things about them as well, and was planning on reading them some time soon. Let us know what you think of them!

how about my review? on the first and second book, anyway.

It doesn't blow my mind as it's supposed to. Maybe I expected too much, but so many people praise it and well, I'd just finished Hunger Games before reading it so I expected it to be super! And Kingkiller series was killing me: twice or even three times the length of Hunger Games! It took me 2 days of hard reading to finish a single book Sore eyes...

Ok it's a nice read though. Story in story. In Kingkiller, an innkeeper tells his apprentice and a chronicler the story of his life. It takes several days for him to finish the story, and in the meantime there are some strange creatures come into town, people die, army marches, a suspectous robbery... all these events imply that the innkeeper's life story should extend to the nowaday, his adventure hasn't quite ended.

This is my review on the first book, I'll put it in the spoiler.

Spoiler:

I liked it and will read the sequel, though it really wasn't a "can't put down" one to my taste. These are 2 of my thoughts:

1. The speed is okay, however I want Rothfuss to push it a little more, description is never my favorite.

2. The characters are okay. I'd love to know more about Kvothe and Bast and even the smith's apprentice Aaron, but nothing truly impressive about that girl Denna who Kvothe falls for - she's a jerk in my opinion. Drops in and out of reach - I don't see any possible motivations behind that girl's actions, and her explanations about why she usually dissappears are nearly as hard to understand. Maybe the sequel would unveil this, but now I'm unsatisfied.

Originally Posted by thinkpadx

If A Game of Thrones is any indication of the pace the series is progressing, than I'm not sure if I'm interested to continue after the first book. Extremely many names and places to remember. I must admit that I like Elisabeth Moon's fantasy books better.

that made me stop reading it in the first place! I still can't bring myself to return, maybe it's a good idea to get paper and pencil to jot down the names and their relationships to help with remembering...

[siraks]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

me, everytime I look at your posts (which are pretty rare) I see you still read Hunger Games

yep, agree with you on that. Hunger games is awesome because it features brand new, interesting stuffs (annual anniversary in which teenagers participate in killing each other). Catching fire is a thumb-down compared to its prequel, nothing's mind-blowing. But it's a preparation for Mockingjay, so people has to read it if they don't want to miss such a terrific ending. The last book is much better than Hunger games, not because everything is brought to a peak, a crisis, but because it deepens the readers' thinking about that fictional world of Hunger Games event.

slowly but surely i'm getting through it. i was away for a week in mexico so my reading pretty much came to a halt, too much fun n sun and all you can drink to keep me from reading!

i'm thinking of starting a discussion later this week on the hunger games trilogy, not sure if there is one already but i know a lot of people have read it and i figure it'd be a decent discussion. there's a lot to the books.

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by siraks

i'm thinking of starting a discussion later this week on the hunger games trilogy, not sure if there is one already but i know a lot of people have read it and i figure it'd be a decent discussion. there's a lot to the books.

oh, then count me out I just had a look at the cast of the movie and it sucks! I hate the cast! 90% of the actors and actresses aren't a bit of what I imagined... especially Cinna. What on earth does Lenny Kravitz do here?

[siraks]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

oh, then count me out I just had a look at the cast of the movie and it sucks! I hate the cast! 90% of the actors and actresses aren't a bit of what I imagined... especially Cinna. What on earth does Lenny Kravitz do here?

hahaha i actually knew the cast before i read so it helped me a lot.
i think harrelson is perfect for haymitch and jennifer lawrence will do a good job, there's a pic floating around of her. also lenny as cinna works in that flamboyant way. he'll do a good job, not what i expected but when he's all done up and being cinna i think it'll work well.
also elizabeth banks as effie i think works really well too. stanley tucci as caeser is a bit off for me, maybe because i always pictured him more closely to richard dawson from the running man hahahah. anyway i think they'll all do great in the movies, you'll probably be surprised how well it works. and if it doesn't next year you can be the first to say "i told you so" lol.

edit: although i'm not sure what the movie cast has to do with the book discussions.

[orlok]

Originally Posted by siraks

although i'm not sure what the movie cast has to do with the book discussions.

Ha ha. Just what I was thinking. Come on maianhvk, you need to join in .

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by siraks

edit: although i'm not sure what the movie cast has to do with the book discussions.

Oh my fault, it was irrelevant "Count me out", partly because I'm not interested in discussing an static matter (which is a series in this case), and partly because the movie adaption lets me down. I'm so disappointed that I don't even want to see it. The cast is not completely different from my imagination, but still... Really, you're lucky to have known the cast before reading.

[richvalle]

Originally Posted by Lizzie in Ma

I'm reading the Patricia Brigg's Alpha and Omega series after finishing her Mercedes Thompsons. The series were recommended by a friend who is also a Dresden Files fan. While technically in the same genre and quite enjoyable so far, they are no Dresden Files. On their own merit though, Mercedes is a highly likable character with a great supporting cast. Interestingly, the fae have "come out" to some extent in these books and the consequences are only just beginning to reverberate through as the werewolves also reveal themselves.

I love the Dresden Files and figured I'd give Alpha and Omega (Cry Wolf - Book 1) a try. I read about half the book and I've put it down for now. I might pick it back up after reading some other library books.

The problem I'm having is that it wasn't seeming like a Book 1 of a series. They keep referencing events that happened before the book like you were supposed to know what happened. That sort of thing drives me crazy. I don't mind figuring out the past as a story goes along but I hate feeling like I'm missing something.

I went onto Wikipedia and it looks like there was a novella written before Cry Wolf ("Alpha and Omega" (novella, published in On the Prowl (2007))).

I figure I'm about to the part of the story where the present is outweighing the past but I was so frustrated I just put the book down.

Ahh well. A few other books and I'll give it another go.

rv

[BearMountainBooks]

Originally Posted by richvalle

I love the Dresden Files and figured I'd give Alpha and Omega (Cry Wolf - Book 1) a try. I read about half the book and I've put it down for now. I might pick it back up after reading some other library books.

The problem I'm having is that it wasn't seeming like a Book 1 of a series. They keep referencing events that happened before the book like you were supposed to know what happened. That sort of thing drives me crazy. I don't mind figuring out the past as a story goes along but I hate feeling like I'm missing something.

I went onto Wikipedia and it looks like there was a novella written before Cry Wolf ("Alpha and Omega" (novella, published in On the Prowl (2007))).

I figure I'm about to the part of the story where the present is outweighing the past but I was so frustrated I just put the book down.

Ahh well. A few other books and I'll give it another go.

rv

I have the Alpha and Omega book (the first) but haven't given it a try yet. Briggs is one of my favorite authors (although it's actually her older stuff like When Demons Walk" that I rate as one of my all-time favorite fatansies). Anyway the Alpha and Omega description never caught my interest really. I bough the book because I enjoyed her Mercy Thompson series (through about book 3...maybe 4. I haven't read the whole series.)

I'll get round to it one of these days...

[Iridal]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

if you don't mind waiting for the last book to be published, you should read it soon. when I finished the 2nd book, I thought, "What? This can't be the end! How come..." and then I felt so uneasy I googled it and they said "Kingkiller chronicles is a trilogy... the last book will be released on..."

I hate waiting I should've checked if it's fully published! First Riyria, now Kingkiller. I hate waiting, I hate waiting...



how about my review? on the first and second book, anyway.

It doesn't blow my mind as it's supposed to. Maybe I expected too much, but so many people praise it and well, I'd just finished Hunger Games before reading it so I expected it to be super! And Kingkiller series was killing me: twice or even three times the length of Hunger Games! It took me 2 days of hard reading to finish a single book Sore eyes...

Ok it's a nice read though. Story in story. In Kingkiller, an innkeeper tells his apprentice and a chronicler the story of his life. It takes several days for him to finish the story, and in the meantime there are some strange creatures come into town, people die, army marches, a suspectous robbery... all these events imply that the innkeeper's life story should extend to the nowaday, his adventure hasn't quite ended.

This is my review on the first book, I'll put it in the spoiler.

Spoiler:

I liked it and will read the sequel, though it really wasn't a "can't put down" one to my taste. These are 2 of my thoughts:

1. The speed is okay, however I want Rothfuss to push it a little more, description is never my favorite.

2. The characters are okay. I'd love to know more about Kvothe and Bast and even the smith's apprentice Aaron, but nothing truly impressive about that girl Denna who Kvothe falls for - she's a jerk in my opinion. Drops in and out of reach - I don't see any possible motivations behind that girl's actions, and her explanations about why she usually dissappears are nearly as hard to understand. Maybe the sequel would unveil this, but now I'm unsatisfied.

Thanks for the review Anh

I just googled it, and they're saying it could take him 4 years to finish the last book But my sister was reading them and said they were really good. Since we have the same taste in books, I figured I'll like them too. Maybe I'll buy a copy when I'm at the bookstore later this week.

[thinkpad]

Originally Posted by maianhvk

that made me stop reading it in the first place! I still can't bring myself to return, maybe it's a good idea to get paper and pencil to jot down the names and their relationships to help with remembering...

Good to know I'm not the only one who finds all the names and places a bit confusing. My sister loves the book and has bought the whole series. I would have found it easier if there were fewer story lines to follow, but here you got one chapter for each main character for me it gets a bit too much, but I will finish it before I make my final call whether to continue with the next book or not.

[big dave]

Pretty much anything by Clive Cussler.

Right now I am reading "The Chase".

[maianhvk]

Originally Posted by Iridal

I just googled it, and they're saying it could take him 4 years to finish the last book But my sister was reading them and said they were really good. Since we have the same taste in books, I figured I'll like them too. Maybe I'll buy a copy when I'm at the bookstore later this week.

What? 4 years? I thought they said it would be released later this year... well maybe my sore eyes got it wrong. But then, you really should consider putting it off. Let's say you're like your sister, you like the series and then what? Waiting for years?
(I'm not so sure that after 4 years waiting, I'll still remember all the important details required to read the last book. Of course it's ok to forget some nonsense details but if I forget them all, that would be reading the whole lengthy series again...)

Originally Posted by thinkpadx

Good to know I'm not the only one who finds all the names and places a bit confusing. My sister loves the book and has bought the whole series. I would have found it easier if there were fewer story lines to follow, but here you got one chapter for each main character for me it gets a bit too much, but I will finish it before I make my final call whether to continue with the next book or not.

We have many recommendations from siblings here, I see If you finish that Games of Thrones you must tell me whether to take note or just remember the names and forget all other details! And if it's not too hard to follow, Games of Thrones will come up next in my list after Chronicles of Narnia, when I finish those bloody final exams

[SeaBookGuy]

As the latest Maisie Dobbs mystery is out, I thought it time to tackle last year's book: The Mapping of Love and Death. So far, it's okay, but in the back of my mind, I'm thinking about what next after it?

[pocoreader]

Just finished "Townie" by Andre Dubus III, the best autobio I have ever read. A searing tale of growing up poor, with lots of alcohol, drugs, street fighting and barroom brawling that becomes a meditation on male violence. "Townie" is an honest, true story of how a man, who was very good at the dubious skill of brawling, discovered how to live with himself and love others. A really remarkable read. I stopped reading it only to sleep.

Before that I read "Cloud Atlas" by David Mitchell. Wow, can he write: different voices, different styles, leaps backwards and forwards in time. I really appreciated reading it on my Kindle (the first novel I'd read on it) because I could pop back to the first appearance of a character, or whatever, which is essential in this fine novel; I don't know how it would be reading it in a less-searchable, paper format.

Right now I am reading Too Big To Fail about the sub-prime mortgage mess and bailout and wondering why class war hasn't broken out in the U.S.A.

[lestatar]

Been on an epic fantasy jag of late.

I highly recommend R. Scott Bakker's brilliant "Prince of Nothing" trilogy, among the most literate and compelling series of books in this genre that I have read in the last few years.

Now I am hooked on Chris Wooding's "Braided Path" series at the moment.

Slight OT:
For those that have HBO and are GRRM fans - what do you think of the epic "Game Of Thrones" adaptation?

Me? Best thing I have seen on TV in eons. Period.