What are you reading?, Because we were strangely lacking this.

I'm about a third of the way through A Feast for Crows. It's pretty good, although I still find myself confused by all of the characters. And there's so much more I want to know about characters that seem to have just disappeared. I'm hoping I'll get at least a few questions answered.

I have also begun reading A Song of Ice and Fire today, after catching up on the first two seasons of Game of Thrones. Can't believe I didn't start reading this series sooner, it's pretty fucking good so far.

Well, A Feast For Crows and A Dance With Dragons were originally supposed to be one book, but got split into two because otherwise it'd have been FUCKING HUGE. The characters in the former are not in the latter, and vice versa.

They're also the slow books. Everything in them is happening all at once. Hoping that The Winds of Winter is worth all the buildup.

Oh, and Aeron chapters are the worst thing ever.


Anyway, in non-GoT reading, I've been reading mostly Neil Gaiman and Chuck Klosterman material.

Neil Gaiman:
Neverwhere: I liked this book and all, but it was his first solo novel, and it shows. Perhaps it's just because I feel the characters aren't as great, the storyline is fairly predictable (I thought the bad guy was very obvious, even early on), or even that the setting is interesting yet seems to be something the characters are merely passing through, but it's not his best work, and I'd not recommend it as a starting point.

Anansi Boys: I enjoyed the characters of Fat Charlie and his brother, Spider. Despite the many, many differences between them, they have all the hallmarks of your typical brotherly relationship. Really this dynamic is what drives the book and all its events, and it's a fun read all the way through. Definitely one of his better reads, out of what little I've read so far lol.

Good Omens (with Terry Pratchett): Think The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy mixed with a prophecy concerning the end of the world and you essentially have this book in a nutshell. Well, I suppose this lacks the satire of Hitchhiker's, but certainly not the humor. A great read, and I'll probably have to check out Pratchett now.

None of these are on the level of American Gods. Perhaps that's the whole "first exposure" thing speaking, but none of these are as epic, nor do they feature a cast of characters you'll come to love (and hate, in some cases) as much as that cast. They certainly don't have an ending as powerful.

Chuck Klosterman:
Downtown Owl: It's probably sad that I can relate to a book about small town life THIS MUCH. Pretty much everything that happened in that book had me nodding and thinking to myself, "this is/has been my life out here". I definitely know people like many of these characters, too, which compounds said sadness.

The Visible Man: I don't feel awful about having read this, mostly because it's only 240 pages, but... Compared to the other two books here from Klosterman, it's meh. I get the themes and all, especially pondering who people really are when they don't have to wear a mask for anyone, but really, there isn't a single interesting storyline anywhere in the book. I don't care about these people, I don't care about what made them who they are. Not really what I read fiction for.

Killing Yourself to Live: 85% Of a True Story: You probably won't gain any new insight into the history of rock and roll or the death of your favorite artist from this book, which is what it's supposedly about. What it's really about? How this trip reminded the book's author of events in his life, more specifically the romances in it.

Mostly have short stories and essay collections from both left to read. I'll probably breeze through all that this week because it'll be due soon and I have nothing better to do.

Still waiting on Fargo Rock City to arrive. That sounds really promising, from what I've read about it.

Also read Nate Silver's The Signal and the Noise. If you know that name, it's probably from his site, fivethirtyeight.com. But yeah, it's a really interesting read about statistical thought, why most predictions fail, and most importantly, how to make better predictions in your own life. The examples he uses are fairly everyday things, like sports, board/card games, the weather, the economy, amongst others, and it's written in such a way that anyone can understand it.

This post has been edited by Romanticide on Dec 25 2012, 05:31 AM

I got Dance of Dragons for Christmas, so I'll be starting that up soon. Also, it's the hardcover version, so it's like a fucking tome.

A sexy tome, nonetheless.

Also, I really enjoyed Feast. I liked visiting Dorne, and I liked getting to see how mad Cersei is. I also liked the slow pacing, because it kind of acted like a sigh of a book, after what was a rollercoaster in Storm of Swords.

Anyway, I'm trying to do a re-read through the Wheel of Time series, since I got the 14th one pre-ordered for Christmas. It comes out on the 8th. :)

I was about to make this thread as I read a lot then remembered it exists. Oops.

Just finished a book called "Wonder". It clearly wasn't aimed at my age group, but I could still appreciate the messages; it's about a kid with severe facial deformities and how the kid copes when he first goes to school in fifth grade. It changes perspective a lot and changes writing style completely between the characters. The book is definitely a good read, but it is still unrealistic in how there is an antagonist in the school who exists purely to bully the main character and have rich parents and so on.

Anyway, I'd recommend it if you're looking for an easier read. It still does have some disheartening, borderline depressing moments, but the writing doesn't get complex at any point.

Do we still read? I'm starting to read A Farewell to Arms for school now-ish. After that, A Storm of Swords.

For school I read Heart of Darkness. Fantastic novella. I Conrad's writing style. It's descriptive like romantic writing but without the archaic language. Plus, themes dealing with madness are always fun.

I read Waiting for Godot also for school, but this is for a paper. One of the funniest things I've ever read, even though it's about nothing.

Also, I STARTED THE ULYSSES CHALLENGE. I MIGHT DIE BUT I SHALL COMPLETE IT.

I've been wanting to read that, but we had to read an American book for this essay.

I've actually been reading quite a bit. Lots of YA fiction since I work in a high school and all.

I read The Maze Runner. It was pretty good, nothing exceptional. And I'm currently reading the sequel, The Scorch Trials.

I'm also reading something called Ready Player One. It's pretty heavy on the 80's pop culture references, but it is a pretty interesting story and very video game player oriented.

I think I might have to start Dance of Dragons from the beginning, when I decide I feel like reading that series again. But then I would probably get stuck in the middle again... those books are great, but they can really, really draaaaaag.

I finally finished A Dance with Dragons. Was good, just long.

edit: Okay, I tried to add a spoiler tag thing, and it worked when I previewed the post, but it didn't work when I actually posted it.....

(Posted Image)

This post has been edited by paige5999 on Apr 24 2013, 11:11 PM

When you preview a post with a spoiler, it shows it right, but simultaneously changes the end spoiler tag to </span></span> for some reason. Replace that with [ /spoiler] and post without previewing again and it works.

This post has been edited by DarkFlashlight on Apr 25 2013, 12:55 AM