Books completed (and general book talk)

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duskvstweak
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

Post by duskvstweak »

Spoiler: show
Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
Dinosaurs Without Bones by Anthony Martin
Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin
Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Acid for the Children by Flea
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
Circe by Madeline Miller
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
The Future of Humanity by Michio Kaku
Outcast United by Warren St. John
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Count Zero by William Gibson
Press Reset by Jason Schreier
Yearbook by Seth Rogen
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Hierarchies by Ros Anderson
Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill
Barren Cove by Ariel S. Winter
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor
Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
August Reading
The Shadow by James Patterson and Brian Sitts
Dinosaurs Rediscovered by Michael J. Benton
The River by Peter Heller
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Cress by Marissa Meyer
Daredevil: Predator's Smile by Christopher Golden
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty

Started my new job in August, so I've returned to audiobooks, which make up three of the books. The Shadow was awful and hugely disappointing, but I don't like Patterson anyway, so it's my own fault. I also wasn't tuned into The River but that was more a personal taste thing. Bossypants was great, I just wished she shared more about her time on SNL or more goofy stories from her youth. My favorite book last month was Six Wakes, which is also probably my favorite book I've read this year. A sci-fi murder mystery on a colony ship full of clones, I'd easily suggest it to fans of Altered Carbon or anyone looking for fun sci-fi.
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

Post by duskvstweak »

My library only just got their copy of Bullet Train, so I finally have my hands on it!
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Alex79
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

Post by Alex79 »

duskvstweak wrote: September 28th, 2021, 3:20 pm My library only just got their copy of Bullet Train, so I finally have my hands on it!
Reminded me I got that ages ago and only read the first two chapters.
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

Post by Truk_Kurt »

duskvstweak wrote: September 28th, 2021, 3:20 pm My library only just got their copy of Bullet Train, so I finally have my hands on it!
Great news, enjoy
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

Post by ReprobateGamer »

Stormed my way through Retribution Falls by Chris Wooding

Somewhat akin to Firefly, though with a little more steampunk flavour than science western, it makes for an easy read.

Very obviously setting up a series and it edges towards the 'with one bound they were free' school of resolving issues but a very interesting world is being laid down and I'm certainly intrigued to see where this story progresses
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

Post by duskvstweak »

Spoiler: show
Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
Dinosaurs Without Bones by Anthony Martin
Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin
Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Acid for the Children by Flea
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
Circe by Madeline Miller
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
The Future of Humanity by Michio Kaku
Outcast United by Warren St. John
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Count Zero by William Gibson
Press Reset by Jason Schreier
Yearbook by Seth Rogen
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Hierarchies by Ros Anderson
Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill
Barren Cove by Ariel S. Winter
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor
Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
The Shadow by James Patterson and Brian Sitts
Dinosaurs Rediscovered by Michael J. Benton
The River by Peter Heller
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Cress by Marissa Meyer
Daredevil: Predator's Smile by Christopher Golden
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
September Reading
How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper
Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett
The Singer's Gun by Emily St. John Mandel
Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke

How Not to Die Alone was fine but not what I was looking for. Island of the Lost was interesting but went on too long, but I'm sure that's what those shipwrecked sailors would have said. I picked up The Singer's Gun because even though I didn't love The Glass Hotel like I did Station Eleven, I really enjoy St. John Mandel's writing style. I plan on reading more of her books. Several People Are Typing is about a guy whose consciousness gets stuck in his work's slack chat and it's as silly and slight as it sounds. It's a quick read but makes a few good points about human connection.
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

Post by duskvstweak »

Truk_Kurt wrote: August 9th, 2021, 9:44 am Finished Bullet Train, a Japanese thriller by Kotako Isaka. It's probably my new favorite fiction book. It has a great pace to it and all the characters are really well written, with a villain who is perhaps my most hated villain ever.
Here is the blurb I copied from amazon to give you a flavour of what it is.
"A dark, satirical thriller by the bestselling Japanese author, following the perilous train ride of five highly motivated assassins—soon to be a major film from Sony Nanao, nicknamed Lady Bird—the self-proclaimed "unluckiest assassin in the world"—boards a bullet train from Tokyo to Morioka with one simple task: grab a suitcase and get off at the next stop."
I just finished this Friday! I'm glad we're of the same mind when it comes to the villain. I thought it had the weird world building of John Wick with the quirky characters of a Tarantino movie. It's not a straight up action story, but I found the dialog to be just strange enough and compelling to hold my attention the whole way through. It's actually a lot funnier than I thought it would be going in! Thanks for the recommendation!
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

Post by Truk_Kurt »

No problem, glad you enjoyed it and hated the villain as much as me!
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

Post by PallasRil »

Finished The Final Girls Support Group by Grady Hendrix. In Hendrix's world, all major slasher film series are based on actual crimes, with real life 'final girls' who survived the attacks. These women are now in their late thirties and forties and still gather together for group therapy sessions, with fluctuating levels of success. When one of them is murdered, the question arises as to whether they are all being targeted once again.

I enjoyed Hendrix's writing, but I was of two minds about this book. I liked how his film series are just ones we know under slightly different titles and origins. I liked his main character, a woman who spends her entire life getting ready for the next attack, very much like Laurie Strode in the 2018 Halloween reboot. The action scenes are very well done. And I liked how he left one killer--the Dream King--pretty much to our own imaginations.

What left me less satisfied was how Final Girls --which felt like a refutation of the genre-- still felt like a slasher movie. He also leans hard into the meta, almost echoing the feel of a Scream film. Hendrix addresses the misogyny of the slasher genre by creating heroines who are not in any way victims, but doesn't address the sheer ridiculousness of other tropes. In fact, he wholeheartedly embraces them for the sake of the narrative.

So, is Final Girls Support Group a slasher novel? Is it a meta examination of the tropes of the slasher genre? Is it all of those things? Was it maybe confused as to what it wanted to be? Maybe?

Still, I enjoyed my time with it, but a tighter focus may have helped.
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

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PallasRil wrote: October 17th, 2021, 11:48 pm Finished The Final Girls Support Group by Grady Hendrix. In Hendrix's world, all major slasher film series are based on actual crimes, with real life 'final girls' who survived the attacks. These women are now in their late thirties and forties and still gather together for group therapy sessions, with fluctuating levels of success. When one of them is murdered, the question arises as to whether they are all being targeted once again.

I enjoyed Hendrix's writing, but I was of two minds about this book. I liked how his film series are just ones we know under slightly different titles and origins. I liked his main character, a woman who spends her entire life getting ready for the next attack, very much like Laurie Strode in the 2018 Halloween reboot. The action scenes are very well done. And I liked how he left one killer--the Dream King--pretty much to our own imaginations.

What left me less satisfied was how Final Girls --which felt like a refutation of the genre-- still felt like a slasher movie. He also leans hard into the meta, almost echoing the feel of a Scream film. Hendrix addresses the misogyny of the slasher genre by creating heroines who are not in any way victims, but doesn't address the sheer ridiculousness of other tropes. In fact, he wholeheartedly embraces them for the sake of the narrative.

So, is Final Girls Support Group a slasher novel? Is it a meta examination of the tropes of the slasher genre? Is it all of those things? Was it maybe confused as to what it wanted to be? Maybe?

Still, I enjoyed my time with it, but a tighter focus may have helped.
This is on my list to read, probably next October. I ended up reading Final Girls by Riley Sager this year. And then found out there was a book even before that called The Last Final Girl. It's becoming it's own genre.
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

Post by PallasRil »

duskvstweak wrote: October 18th, 2021, 1:44 pm This is on my list to read, probably next October. I ended up reading Final Girls by Riley Sager this year. And then found out there was a book even before that called The Last Final Girl. It's becoming it's own genre.
I just started My Heart Is A Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones and I think you're right. Final Girls are the new It Girls.
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

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PallasRil wrote: October 22nd, 2021, 12:52 am
duskvstweak wrote: October 18th, 2021, 1:44 pm This is on my list to read, probably next October. I ended up reading Final Girls by Riley Sager this year. And then found out there was a book even before that called The Last Final Girl. It's becoming it's own genre.
I just started My Heart Is A Chainsaw by Stephen Graham Jones and I think you're right. Final Girls are the new It Girls.
Just looked up Chainsaw. Adding it to the pile.
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

Post by Truk_Kurt »

Just finished Ask Iwata and thought it was brilliant. It was really interesting to contrast how Nintendo has developed over the years with their hardware in particular and the beliefs and musings of Iwata as he went through his Nintendo presidency. There was a lot of teachings in there which I think would be useful for individuals and businesses to follow, there was certainly a few things he got me thinking about in how I approach things at work and will look to do better.
I don't know about anyone else who has read the book, but personally I felt that since his passing, you can see a few areas where Nintendo have gone away from his core beliefs and philospohies, but maybe it's just me.
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

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Truk_Kurt wrote: October 22nd, 2021, 2:45 pm Just finished Ask Iwata and thought it was brilliant. It was really interesting to contrast how Nintendo has developed over the years with their hardware in particular and the beliefs and musings of Iwata as he went through his Nintendo presidency. There was a lot of teachings in there which I think would be useful for individuals and businesses to follow, there was certainly a few things he got me thinking about in how I approach things at work and will look to do better.
I don't know about anyone else who has read the book, but personally I felt that since his passing, you can see a few areas where Nintendo have gone away from his core beliefs and philospohies, but maybe it's just me.
I've seen this but I haven't read it. I think my library has is digitally. I'll have to give it a read!
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

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I might have posted this before, but if anyone else in this thread is also on Goodreads, hit me up!

https://www.goodreads.com/user/show/5892119-eric-mikols
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

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Spoiler: show
Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
Dinosaurs Without Bones by Anthony Martin
Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin
Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Acid for the Children by Flea
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
Circe by Madeline Miller
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
The Future of Humanity by Michio Kaku
Outcast United by Warren St. John
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Count Zero by William Gibson
Press Reset by Jason Schreier
Yearbook by Seth Rogen
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Hierarchies by Ros Anderson
Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill
Barren Cove by Ariel S. Winter
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor
Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
The Shadow by James Patterson and Brian Sitts
Dinosaurs Rediscovered by Michael J. Benton
The River by Peter Heller
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Cress by Marissa Meyer
Daredevil: Predator's Smile by Christopher Golden
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper
Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett
The Singer's Gun by Emily St. John Mandel
Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke
October Reading
Bullet Train by Kōtarō Isaka
Final Girls by Riley Sager
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King
Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay
The Grip of It by Jac Jemc
A People's History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal

Mostly Halloween reading. I was finishing Bullet Train at the beginning of the month, same with Alice (which I was disappointed by). Final Girls and The Grip of It were the better of my spooky readings, with TGOI being the creepiest by far. A People's History of the Vampire Uprising did nothing for me and felt liked a waste of a concept.
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

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Just finished The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie.

This is the 4th book I’ve read by him (first 3 being the first law trilogy) and I think he may be one of my favorite fantasy writers.

I don’t often talk books so I don’t know how well regarded Abercrombie is (I do know he’s pretty famous in the genre) but I think his characters are just so good. Especially the rough, mean, muddy and violent characters.
He doesn’t write women characters very well in my opinion, so he’s not perfect, but I love how his books tend to shy away from magic and high fancy fantasy, and more into bloody, realistic, messy battles.
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

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SludgeWizard wrote: November 1st, 2021, 11:56 pm Just finished The Heroes by Joe Abercrombie.

This is the 4th book I’ve read by him (first 3 being the first law trilogy) and I think he may be one of my favorite fantasy writers.

I don’t often talk books so I don’t know how well regarded Abercrombie is (I do know he’s pretty famous in the genre) but I think his characters are just so good. Especially the rough, mean, muddy and violent characters.
He doesn’t write women characters very well in my opinion, so he’s not perfect, but I love how his books tend to shy away from magic and high fancy fantasy, and more into bloody, realistic, messy battles.
I read The Heroes back in 2013. I liked it for the most part but, at the time, I didn't realize it was part of an established world. I think I would have gotten a bit more from it had I read his First Law trilogy. Which I keep meaning to do! I only hear good (and violent) things about it.
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

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Spoiler: show
Star Wars: The High Republic: Light of the Jedi by Charles Soule
The Space Between Worlds by Micaiah Johnson
Dinosaurs Without Bones by Anthony Martin
Tehanu by Ursula K. Le Guin
Star Wars: The High Republic: Into the Dark by Claudia Gray
The Great Influenza: The Story of the Deadliest Pandemic in History by John M. Barry
Doomsday Book by Connie Willis
Acid for the Children by Flea
Babel-17 by Samuel R. Delany
Circe by Madeline Miller
To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee
The Tattooist of Auschwitz by Heather Morris
On Tyranny by Timothy Snyder
Spin by Robert Charles Wilson
The Future of Humanity by Michio Kaku
Outcast United by Warren St. John
Norse Mythology by Neil Gaiman
Digital Minimalism by Cal Newport
Count Zero by William Gibson
Press Reset by Jason Schreier
Yearbook by Seth Rogen
Project Hail Mary by Andy Weir
The Hierarchies by Ros Anderson
Sea of Rust by C. Robert Cargill
Barren Cove by Ariel S. Winter
Remote Control by Nnedi Okorafor
Luck of the Titanic by Stacey Lee
Migrations by Charlotte McConaghy
The Shadow by James Patterson and Brian Sitts
Dinosaurs Rediscovered by Michael J. Benton
The River by Peter Heller
Bossypants by Tina Fey
Cress by Marissa Meyer
Daredevil: Predator's Smile by Christopher Golden
Six Wakes by Mur Lafferty
How Not to Die Alone by Richard Roper
Island of the Lost: Shipwrecked at the Edge of the World by Joan Druett
The Singer's Gun by Emily St. John Mandel
Several People Are Typing by Calvin Kasulke
Bullet Train by Kōtarō Isaka
Final Girls by Riley Sager
Alice's Adventures in Wonderland & Through the Looking-Glass by Lewis Carroll
Cycle of the Werewolf by Stephen King
Survivor Song by Paul Tremblay
The Grip of It by Jac Jemc
A People's History of the Vampire Uprising by Raymond A. Villareal
November Reading
Dragons of Autumn Twilight by Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman
Appleseed by Matt Bell
Dragonflight by Anne McCaffrey
A Farewell to Arms by Ernest Hemingway
The Shadow of the Gods by John Gwynne
Dear Fahrenheit 451: Love and Heartbreak in the Stacks by Annie Spence

I was really disappointed by Dragons of Autumn Twilight, but I think I need to give up on expecting great things from these 80s Dungeon and Dragons novels. Appleseed was depressing but I couldn't put it down near the end. Dragonflight got trippier than I expected, which was cool. If you're looking for more Nordic and Viking influences in your fantasy, The Shadow of the Gods will probably fill your needs. It took time to get going, but when it does, it really gets going.
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Re: Books completed (and general book talk)

Post by duskvstweak »

I got a copy of this in my hands today!

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