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Post by Deleted on Apr 10, 2017 23:26:07 GMT
About halfway through Dune Messiah by Frank Herbert, the second book in his Dune epic, Dune is perhaps one of the most finely woven tales that I have ever read, the way Herbert manages to weave all of the various details, cultures, politics, the intimate thinking of the characters which seem to flow naturally and seamlessly throughout the story is a joy to behold, Dune builds and ends in an exciting climax that makes you eager to read the next book. Dune Messiah is a little more intricate but once your immersed in the language of this world, you just want to delve that much deeper.
Also reading King John and the Road to Magna Carta by Stephen Church, looked around at about every source written about King John and this book was very well reviewed, and so far it seems to be a fair and balanced portrait of the man and his times, Church has a good narrative style.
Also just started, The Story of Rock, smash hits and superstars, it one of the 'Discoveries' series books that cover just about every subject that you can think of in a very compact, precise and informative manner, was impressed by the last one on Angkor Wat and the Khmer culture.
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mrdanwest
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Post by mrdanwest on Apr 11, 2017 19:51:08 GMT
So far:
The Adventures of Tom Sawyer by Mark Twain (finished) - I read Robert Coover's Huck Out West last month and loved it enough to seek out the source material again. Definitely a kids book; but still a fun read - 4 of 5 Stars.
Lincoln in the Bardo by George Saunders (finished) - Definitely a different sort of read; but, once you get used to the style, it flows along pretty nicely. Very thoughtful and touching book. I loved it. 5 of 5.
London Fields by Martin Amis (still reading) - I am about half way through this and finding the experience fairly similar to the other M. Amis stuff that I've read (Money & The Information). I like the writing and the story; but the characters are so off-putting that I don't like to spend large chunks of time with them and thus I get through them fairly slowly (for me)
The Adventures of Huckleberry Finn by Mark Twain (still reading) - see above for Tom Sawyer. Definitely a more "adult" book though. I am about 100 pages in.
To read this month (time permitting & if I don't change me mind)
- The Falling Man by Don DeLillo
- The Baron in the Trees by Italo Calvino
- Maybe something by Paul Auster or Margaret Atwood (I like both and have several by each on my shelf)
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Post by eplay on Apr 11, 2017 22:24:27 GMT
Finished Herman Koch's "The Dinner" a few days ago. Very mixed reviews. I found it pretty interesting, especially the thought processes of the narrator, but I ended up not caring for it overall. It's been made into a film starring Richard Gere, Laura Linney, Steve Coogan, Rebecca Hall and Chloe Sevigny, which the author apparently dislikes.
I'm now about halfway through "Dark Matter" by Blake Crouch. My first novel of his (though I did watch "Wayward Pines" and "Good Behavior", based on his novels).
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Post by darknessfish on Apr 12, 2017 11:56:47 GMT
Just finished Chris England's rather lovely The Fun Factory, which was something of an English alternative to Carter Beats the Devil.
Now onto Boris Fishman's A Replacement Life
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Post by FilmFlaneur on Apr 12, 2017 15:43:18 GMT
A title newly started is A Thousand Cuts: The Bizarre Underground World of Collectors and Dealers Who Saved the Movies by Bartok and Joseph. It is a tale surprisingly rarely told, of the history of film collecting in the US over the last few decades. It's a history full of quirky, larger-than-life personalities who used to treasure, trade and hoard 35mm prints of Hollywood classics, as well as the ephemera of the age, with an obsession that sometimes fell foul of the law (the MCPA had a phase, a couple of decades or so again of going after this group especially and dragging them to court). Besides - outside of the community at least - the unknowns, collectors also included such stars as Roddy McDowall and Rock Hudson, the former of which was a real cause celebre for his later disasterous problems with the copyright police, prefiguring today's anti-piracy battles. Based on a series of interviews with some of the surviving individuals, and rich in anecdote, the book is (for me, any rate) a fascinating account of a hobby which incidentally helped to preserve some of the nation's heritage, but which these days has sadly been rendered defunct by changes in technology. Whereas back then a print of a film was the thing to own and printed artefacts, original posters and so on, were less valuable; today the opposite is the case, and the old 35mm prints are rapidly losing value, the old projectors being widely junked. This, while the advent of the internet and the digital archive has meant that previously hard-to-see films are instantly available. But one can relate to old vinegary smell of nitrate stock, and the quality of an image from off celluloid, and of the imperative of owning a print (rather than a copy-of-a-copy, as discs are) of one's own. The unspoken comparison is with the alleged 'clinical' quality CD's, and raspy MP3s, against the old, 'warmer' LP format, now making a resurgence amongst aficionados of sound. Could the same ever happen with cinema? Bartok writes with sympathetically and an informed manner about a world which has largely disappeared, but which, somehow, still seems relevant today.
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Post by lostinlimbo on Apr 16, 2017 13:24:58 GMT
Dean Koontz's "The Funhouse".
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Post by howardschumann on Apr 16, 2017 18:16:17 GMT
Books read March/April
Fatelessness – Imre Kertesz Pedro Paramo – Juan Rulfo Infinite Awareness – Marjorie Hines Woollacott
Now Reading
Time of the Quickening – Susan B. Martinez
Waiting to Read
More Than Allegory – Bernardo Kastrup Myth and Facts: The Arab-Israeli Conflict - Mitchell Bard How Soon is Now? – Daniel Pinchbeck Survival in Auschwitz – Primo Levi
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Post by howardschumann on Apr 17, 2017 0:42:22 GMT
I Saw A Light And Came Here: Children's Experiences of Reincarnation by Ph.D Erlendur Haraldsson and Ph.D James G. Matlock. This book is excellent, but my favorite book about this topic is still Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects by Ian Stevenson M.D. What did you think of the case presented? Did it convince you or do you think there is another interpretation of the evidence?
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Post by Raimo47 on Apr 17, 2017 16:17:54 GMT
I Saw A Light And Came Here: Children's Experiences of Reincarnation by Ph.D Erlendur Haraldsson and Ph.D James G. Matlock. This book is excellent, but my favorite book about this topic is still Reincarnation and Biology: A Contribution to the Etiology of Birthmarks and Birth Defects by Ian Stevenson M.D. What did you think of the case presented? Did it convince you or do you think there is another interpretation of the evidence? I think that reincarnation is the best interpretation for the stronger cases. In my opinion Purnima Ekanayake and Nazih Al-Danaf's cases are the strongest cases Haraldsson has investigated.
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Post by howardschumann on Apr 17, 2017 17:55:14 GMT
What did you think of the case presented? Did it convince you or do you think there is another interpretation of the evidence? I think that reincarnation is the best interpretation for the stronger cases. In my opinion Purnima Ekanayake and Nazih Al-Danaf's cases are the strongest cases Haraldsson has investigated. Thanks. I've read Stevenson's book (or it has been quoted so many times I feel as if I've read it). Hadn't heard of the other book "I Saw the Light and Came Here", but I am interested in reading it once I get through the books on my list waiting to be read. Thanks for bringing it to our attention.
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Post by eplay on Apr 19, 2017 20:08:03 GMT
Currently reading John Scalzi's "Agent to the Stars" as I was in the mood for something humorous. Fits the bill!
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Post by Deleted on Apr 20, 2017 2:05:48 GMT
About halfway through Children of Dune by Frank Herbert. Did finally start to take-off after the first 75 pages, not as focused as the first two books- over ten years since the original publishing of Dune in 1965, very wordy overall with maybe a bit too much pseudo-science-religious blabbering and political maneuvering (seems like page-filling) but hanging in there to see where the story finally ends up.
Also onto book II of The Sun Also Rises by Ernest Hemingway, yes the plot is a bit thin but damn! that is some really great dialogue reading, makes you feel like your right there sitting at the table, spending your nights dancing in Paris or strolling down the boulevards to a local Café for lunch with these characters.
I love great dialogue probably one of the things I appreciate most in a book, especially when it can entrance me like this.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 21, 2017 15:16:19 GMT
"Brain Droppings" by George Carlin. For the umpteenth time.
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karryon99v2
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Post by karryon99v2 on Apr 23, 2017 6:36:18 GMT
Death on Demand by Carolyn G. Hart
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mmexis
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Post by mmexis on Apr 23, 2017 8:45:48 GMT
Started reading "The girl before" but very early on yet. Had some boring professional reading to do this month.
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Post by rudeboy on Apr 24, 2017 7:33:06 GMT
Anna Karenina. One of those bucket list/essential novels that I keep on putting off, and so have decided to tackle it. About half way through after two weeks. I really love most of the Anna/Karenin/Volsky sequences; not so keen on all of the many subplots involving the various characters floating around, notably Levin's changing opinions on agricultural policy, which are somewhat heavy. Even those sections have their beauty, however - there was a lengthy account of mowing wth fields which was enchanting.
Heavy-going at times, but usually absorbing and frequently amazing, and one can certainly appreciate why it so often places high on 'greatest novel' lists.
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Squelchy
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Post by Squelchy on Apr 24, 2017 10:34:24 GMT
Started reading comic-writer Pat Mills first book; Serial Killer. So far it's kind of daft and annoying... thinking maybe he should have stuck to the pages of 2000AD. That was embarrassing and stupid. Started Laline Paull's The Bees after that. An interesting premise stretched too far; got repetitious and a bit dull. Started Noah Hawley's Before the Fall after that, nearly finished it. It's OK... enjoyable but not exactly gripping.
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Post by Deleted on Apr 24, 2017 15:45:52 GMT
A biography about Martin Luther ( 1483-1546 )
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Post by eplay on Apr 25, 2017 23:15:48 GMT
Finished "Agent to the Stars" by John Scalzi. It was amusing.
I'm now reading "Looking Good Dead" by Peter James, the second in the Roy Grace series. I plan to read them all in order (but not consecutively).
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Post by Deleted on Apr 25, 2017 23:33:25 GMT
Finished Children of Dune by Frank Herbert,
I will say without reservations that Dune and Dune Messiah are easily in the top 10 best Sci-Fi books that I have ever read, probably in the top 5 along with Asimov's Foundation series. Children of Dune, is quite a letdown, it immediately bogs the reader down with endless metaphysical ruminations and has two major plot twists, the first comes as no surprise and the second is kinda a short-cut ending that serves to cut-off the series or maybe continue it on again if the book sales justify another go-round. 400 pages of struggle to get a story of maybe 150 pages. Really wish that I could give it easy praise but really only finished it because I was invested in the storyline.
Maybe will read, God Emperor of Dune (1981) Heretics of Dune (1984) at a later date, Herbert deserves another chance to pull me back in.
Finished, King John and the Road to Magna Carta by Stephen Church. Excellent and satisfying, highly recommend this book, gives you the living history of this fascinating period and why the Magna Carta was such a significant and truly important event as one of the founding doctrines of our governing constitutions. Find out if King John is truly as bad as his reputation.
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