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[Yoink]

Managed to find pdf versions of every single Animorphs book.  Nostalgia, here I come.

Oh, really? Were they free? I might have to grab those once my internet is up-and-running...


Man, I haven't posted in here for quite a while.
So, I finished reading The Master and Margarita and The Shadow of the Wind, both of which I greatly enjoyed.
Umm... not entirely sure what I read after that, those were a while ago. Then again I wasn't reading as much as I could have been back then, thanks to having internet, y'know? I know I re-read The Wizards and the Warriors for probably the hundredth time, I read a book called Cakes and Ale by Somerset Maugham that was very interesting, despite perhaps a weak ending. Gave a fascinating look at authors and such in the early 20th century.
Very old fashioned. I think slightly unsatisfying, abrupt endings are pretty much par for the course with English novels, really.

Now I'm reading Njal's Saga (tried to read it once before years ago and got bored, quite enjoying it this time) and a book called King's Champion by Christian Ballen.
There are probably a few other books I'm forgetting, and there's at least one or two that I've started reading then put aside for another time.

I'm thinking of joining the library... I've been spending so much time outside using their internet, and who knows, they probably have some good books.
I vaguely remember them having a selection of 40k novels nears ago when I lived here before.

[NRDL]

Managed to find pdf versions of every single Animorphs book.  Nostalgia, here I come.

Oh, really? Were they free? I might have to grab those once my internet is up-and-running...

Don't read em all at once.   

[Tack]

Just breezed through deadhouse gates/bk II MBotF, and by breezed I mean voraciously read it right up until a certain soul-crushing scene, then avoided eye contact with it until I managed to work up the courage up finish it.

So I guess I know what this Erikson guy is about now.

[JoshuaFH]

I finished reading 'The Last of All Possible Worlds' and even though it's a book with no overarching plot, no conflict, and no big finale and there isn't any closure on most of the story threads, but regardless, it's such a... deeply nourishing book. It details a world from the perspective of a hand full of very human characters, as they recount their lives and the most important and defining moments therein. It's like reading a fictional autobiography, but it jumps perspectives roughly 7 or so times throughout the book, many of which only loosely related to eachother. That was a wonderful read, thanks Mr. Drucker.

Now I'm reading the Jungle by Upton Sinclaire, which I'm sure most of you have heard about. Supposedly based on the true events of the utterly appalling condition of the meat packing industry in late-1800's and early-1900's, the story documents it in the form of a third person perspective of an immigrated Lithuanian trying to make it in the dystopia that is late-1800's Chicago. I feel slightly embarrassed having had to venture into the teens book section to grab this one, but I've always been curious, I've only ever read relevant snippets detailing the most ghastly and most disgusting things that apparently had happened.

One thing I found interesting, was that I'd been playing the game 'Killing Floor' on Steam for a long time now, but I just now realized that the term refers to the butchering assembly line like the ones presented in this book. But if the book is to be believed, even though the videogame's premise has you gunning down wave after wave of zombies as they crawl over eachother to devour you, the actual real killing floor was both bloodier and more inhumane.

[Flying Dice]

Can verify. Even modern killing floors are disgusting. There's an art gallery around where I live that was converted from an old slaughterhouse and packing plant--you can smell the fear and death from a hundred meters away even though it's been out of operation for something like fifteen years now.

[Spehss _]

Rereading The Eye of the World by Robert Jordan from the Wheel of Time series. Felt like reading some fantasy. I had stopped reading the WoT series halfway through book seven or something like that, and I don't remember what the hell was happening. So looks like it's back to book 1 to try to get back into it.

[BlackHeartKabal]

Taking a little rite of passage by picking up Dune to read from the school library. I hope it's as good as I hear it is.

[Oneir]

Finished reading The Just City (Tor's august bookclub book) -- I liked it a lot better than Three Body Problem even though it was still trying to his similar existential points. I guess deconstructing Plato's Republic is less grating to me than another book deconstructing modern society. One thing I was surprised by was how abruptly it ended. In retrospect, it made a lot of sense to end it where it did, but in the moment, not paying attention to the % read number, it was pretty shocking.

[kilakan]

Taking a little rite of passage by picking up Dune to read from the school library. I hope it's as good as I hear it is.

Prepare for disappointment.

Or well, even if you like it, disappointment that the book series only gets worse from there.

[Helgoland]

Der Untertan by Heinrich Mann. The title translates to 'The Subject' - it's set in the 1890's, and relates the life story (up to age 40 or so) of a Prussian factory owner who is fanatically devoted to Kaiser, the German nation, and the perpetuation of the old class divisions, while being a slimy contemptible corrupt hypocritical worthless piece of shit himself. Oh, and he's got masochistic tendencies to boot, and deals with that psychologically by mistreating his wife.

Fascinating read, all in all. Incredibly well-written, and makes one understand why a) Kaiserreich era Germany was morally and intellectually bancrupt, b) WWI happened, c) Germany lost WWI. Plus from today's perspective one can sort of tell that we as a people never really got rid of those malignant traits.

TL;DR: It made me ashamed to be German, but in a good way.

[Alev]

Last book I read was called A Yemeni Passage, fiction, Derek Franck. Very good book actually. Right now I'm reading intermittently A History of Rome: Down to the Reign of Constantine (I think) and Aseff: Russian Terrorist and Police Stool.

[Parsely]

The Moon is a Harsh Mistress is my new favorite sci-fi novel.

[Tack]

It a Space Opera?

Taking a little rite of passage by picking up Dune to read from the school library. I hope it's as good as I hear it is.

Prepare for disappointment.
Or well, even if you like it, disappointment that the book series only gets worse from there.

I really liked it. But I think it's a sad truth re: the rest of the series. It didn't need more.

Just finished B3 Malazan Book Fallen. Been eating these up FAR easier than the wheel of time books.
Not sure if that's because of mid-series Perrin but who knows.

Spoiler: Perrin, Axe, Tree, Hammer (click to show/hide)

Haven't actually read up to that part but I'm having real trouble with the 'an axe is a weapon for killing so I'm gonna make a hammer and kill with it.' business.
It's like- axes are for chopping trees.
By choosing a hammer, he's just choosing a tool which has had its purpose less perverted by other people, so that he can pervert it personally.

[Spehss _]

@Tack (not quoting because I don't want to risk spoiling myself)

WoT is just a slog of reading, in my experience. The first book alone is over 700 pages. The overall plot is long and complex and there's lots of filler text describing cities, towns, peoples, cultures, and customs, which does well at enriching the setting but also just clogs up the reading experience.

[BorkBorkGoesTheCode]

It a Space Opera?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Moon_Is_a_Harsh_Mistress