Spoilers What Book Are You Reading?

[LadyX]

That was more or less my reaction to the finale, too.

Quite often, I have noticed that the final work in an epic series turns out to be something of an anti-climax, even if it does wrap up the story and tie up some loose ends.

However, with 'Deathly Hallowes', I would argue that J K Rowling gave her readers the very best book in the series at the very end, and - to my mind - it is an absolute tour-de-force, a brilliant conclusion to an outstanding series.

Agreed. And I noticed, all of the previous books ended in a calm way. I mean, there is some sort of calming period after the climax but not the final book. It ended on a climax. I don't know why she ended it so quickly. And the epilogue was vague. When I searched I found out that Rowling did that on purpose. She admitted her original epilogue was a lot more detailed, including the name of every child born to the Weasley clan in the past 19 years.

Anyway, I loved the ending but I also wanted to know more about the characters, so I read Rowling's "Harry Potter" interviews on different websites and her writings on Pottermore (I know, I've become obsessed) , she revealed a lot of information about a lot of characters. And she still does every now and then. It's great.

 

[cdcastillo]

The amazing story of quantum mechanics

Right now I'm reading through this marvelous kinder-garden level (kidding, it must be elementary school level) math-light version of quantum mechanics.

I'm enjoying it quite a lot

 

[ucfgrad93]

I am currently reading The Mark (Left Behind VIII) on my Kindle.

 

[theonekcrow]

http://http://www.amazon.com/The-Death-WCW-Anniversary-Bestselling/dp/1770411755

I am currently reading The Death of WCW: 10th Anniversary Edition by RD Reynolds and Bryan Alvarez in iBooks. I got an ePub copy of the book for free from the publisher because I bought a print copy of the book.

 

[Don't panic]

My warm and grateful thanks to you both.

This book - "Guns, Germs, and Steel" - by Jared Diamond arrived yesterday in a package sent by Amazon (and yes, I'd prefer to be able to buy it in a bricks and mortar store) and I have been unable to put it down since I opened it last night.

Indeed, I have spent much of yesterday and most of today so far buried deeply - nay, completely immersed - in it and utterly absorbed by it.

Very well written, and extraordinarily interesting. A fascinating and thought provoking read. Again, my thanks to you both for suggesting it.

I am pleased you enjoyed it!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

I am pleased you enjoyed it!

I most certainly did, and again, my grateful thanks.

Have you any other books, or reading matter, which you would recommend - books that are equally well written, and also are equally interesting?

As it happens, I never got around to finishing 'Guns, Germs and Steel' because I spent a few days with my brother (who is a big fan of the writing of Bill Bryson) and dropped the book off with him, thinking that he may enjoy it.

However, I have meetings there next week, and shall stay with him, and, if he has not started it by then, I shall retrieve it and finish it for myself.

 

[Hey Jude]

Burton Malkiel

"A Random Walk Down Wall Street"......I believe it will be an interesting read.

 

[aaronvan]

Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone.

Dog Soldiers by Robert Stone. I'd never heard of him until last week's obituary. So far it's pretty good.

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https://forums.macrumors.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=524760&stc=1&d=1421195065

Good luck with that one. I could't finish it and I loved The Terror.

 

[LadyX]

A father and his son walk alone through burned America. Nothing moves in the ravaged landscape save the ash on the wind. It is cold enough to crack stones, and when the snow falls it is gray. The sky is dark. Their destination is the coast, although they don't know what, if anything, awaits them there. They have nothing; just a pistol to defend themselves against the lawless bands that stalk the road, the clothes they are wearing, a cart of scavenged food—and each other.

 

[aaronvan]

Image

It's in my list of top-10 books I ever read. I still pick it up from time to time just to read random pages. It's almost written like poetry:

"The banished sun circling the Earth like a grieving mother with a lamp."

Wow.

 

[CrickettGrrrl]

Just re-read Alexander McCall Smith's "2 1/2 Pillars of Wisdom", the Von Igelfeld trilogy. Love these books. There's 3 books here, (love the titles!) "Portuguese Irregular Verbs, Finer Points of Sausage Dogs and The Villa of Reduced Circumstances." Now going to read the 4th, "Unusual uses for olive oil". Great sort books for a dark and cold January!

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http://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B002TXZS...TF8&colid=2Q95HLXD2WV4R&coliid=I3UVFBREQCAMMO

How did you enjoy the fourth book, "Unusual Uses for Olive Oil"?
I loved the first three so much, but I could only read the first few chapters of the fourth one.

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I liked 'The Hobbit'.

It is a fun read, a cheerful adventure story where the tone is set by the engaging insouciance, understated courage (and quick wit) of the protagonist, Bilbo Baggins. In a sense, it is the Prologue to the whole Lord of the Rings saga, as it sets the scene.

Obviously, and while it is a much shorter book than the massive 'The Lord Of The Rings' trilogy, it is much lighter in tone, more cheerful, with a few comedic elements, and with far less world building or character development, or sense of an epic tale with cosmic consequences than you will find in the trilogy itself, which reverberates with a sense of doom and portentous story telling.

However, - and here I have to give voice to a difference between the two which I found striking - as a hero, as a protagonist, I much preferred Bilbo Baggins in The Hobbit, to his nephew, Frodo Baggins, who was the protagonist in TLOTR saga. To my mind, the character differences between the two (along with their differing adventures and life experiences) gave rise to a startling difference in tone in the two works.

I never really liked Frodo, although one, could, of course, 'feel his pain' as the books progressed, but I would happily sit down to dine with Bilbo, a repast I am sure would include convivial conversation washed down with a glass or two of good ale or wine…...

EXACTLY what you wrote.

I clasp "The Hobbit" to my bosom, and find the LOTR to be a slog, except for the Ents. Totally sympatico with Ents.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

How did you enjoy the fourth book, "Unusual Uses for Olive Oil"?
I loved the first three so much, but I could only read the first few chapters of the fourth one.

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EXACTLY what you wrote.

I clasp "The Hobbit" to my bosom, and find the LOTR to be a slog, except for the Ents. Totally sympatico with Ents.

I'll be honest. I think I would have liked TLOTR an awful lot better if Bilbo Baggins had been the protagonist. Actually, I would have been interested to see what real terror, desperation and trauma would have done to him, how his character would have grown over the more complex narrative arc - I think it would have made him a sadder, wiser man (hobbit), but he would not have lost the wry wit and general decency along with the understated courage with which he viewed the world and with which he treated his fellow creatures.

Above all, I doubt that even huge trauma would have made him lose his appetite for the good things that life has to offer; in time, he may have learned to put them in perspective, but I doubt his pleasure would have diminished; rather, it would have been tempered by the knowledge that such enjoyment as can be availed of from such pleasures is fleeting at best.

I never cared for Frodo Baggins - the persona of his 'crucified Christ' suffering annoyed me rather than had me rooting for him, and I loathed his relationship, based on servility and rigidly observed roles and service, with Samwise. Likewise, he seemed to me to lack wit, insouciance, and élan; I think he even lacked a sense of humour - I could never - for example - see Frodo having the wit or imagination to risk engaging on the deadly game of wits that won Bilbo the Ring in the first place.

As for the Ents, well, they rock. They just rock. Love them to bits.

The other bit that I really liked hugely in TLOTR was the section set in the Mines of Moria; that was brilliant and gripping - best of all was Gandalf's shouted command: "Flee, fools!" Brilliant.

 

[CrickettGrrrl]

best of all was Gandalf's shouted command: "Flee, fools!" Brilliant.

Thanks, I laughed out loud at that quote.

Yes, I agree regarding Frodo, he was a pill. I read these books quite a long while ago but I do still remember feeling that Frodo treated Sam quite badly. And how irritating that was. After reading "The Hobbit" I wanted more, but TLOTR was a bit too much more. It was a lot like reading "The Worm Ouroboros", after which I felt as if I'd personally touched every jagged rock on Mt Everest.

 

[LadyX]

It's in my list of top-10 books I ever read. I still pick it up from time to time just to read random pages. It's almost written like poetry:

"The banished sun circling the Earth like a grieving mother with a lamp."

Wow.

Really? I am honestly not liking it so far. I mean I'm only 40 pages in but I'm finding it very repetitive and monotonous. Lots of narrative gaps. Very minimal conversation. No quotation marks and other punctuation.

For instance (this is one of the little conversations in the book; page 10 so not a spoiler):

Can I ask you something? he said.
Yes. Of course.
Are we going to die?
Sometime. Not now.
And we're still going south.
Yes.
So we'll be warm.
Yes.
Okay.
Okay what?
Nothing. Just okay.
Go to sleep.
Okay.
I'm going to blow out the lamp. Is that okay?
Yes. That's okay.
And then later in the darkness: Can I ask you something?
Yes. Of course you can.
What would you do if I died?
If you died I would want to die too.
So you could be with me?
Yes. So I could be with you.
Okay.

I did read the quote you posted a few minutes ago in the book though, I liked it.

 

[AVBeatMan]

How did you enjoy the fourth book, "Unusual Uses for Olive Oil"?

I loved the first three so much, but I could only read the first few chapters of the fourth one.

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Not read the forth one yet. Not as good then?

 

[aaronvan]

Really? I am honestly not liking it so far. Lots of narrative gaps. Very minimal conversation. No quotation marks and other punctuation.

That's Cormac McCarthy's style. In all his books, from The Orchard Keeper to The Road, the prose is stripped down to the bare essentials.

Some people find McCarthy too nihilistic and grim. True, but I'd suggest reading The Road to the very end. Sometimes he'll surprise you. Remember, it was recommended by no less of a literary critic than Oprah.

At least you'll learn some new words. McCarthy loves tossing in the odd archaic noun or verb from time to time.

If you do finish and are game for another, try Blood Meridian.

I'd rate McCarthy along with Phillip Roth as America's top writers. One of them should win the Nobel Prize in Literature.

Incidentally, McCarthy is good friends with Murray Gell-Mann and he copy edited Lawrence Krauss's biography of Richard Feynman, along with some other popular physics books.

 

[CrickettGrrrl]

How did you enjoy the fourth book, "Unusual Uses for Olive Oil"?

I loved the first three so much, but I could only read the first few chapters of the fourth one.

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Not read the forth one yet. Not as good then?

I'm sure it is, I do like most of Alexander McCall Smith's series. Perhaps it was just me, or something going on at the time, but I felt uncomfortably embarrassed by Professor von Igelfeld in the first few chapters. The squirm factor kept me from plugging through. I should try again I guess.

 

[fitshaced]

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Just started it. It got excellent reviews. Might be a bit too much of a soppy one but if it's a good story, all good.

 

[LadyX]

That's Cormac McCarthy's style. In all his books, from The Orchard Keeper to The Road, the prose is stripped down to the bare essentials.

Some people find McCarthy too nihilistic and grim. True, but I'd suggest reading The Road to the very end. Sometimes he'll surprise you. Remember, it was recommended by no less of a literary critic than Oprah.

At least you'll learn some new words. McCarthy loves tossing in the odd archaic noun or verb from time to time.

If you do finish and are game for another, try Blood Meridian.

I have never read McCarthy before so I didn't know his style is like that. Very strange. I've decided to read "The Road" to the very end. Hope it turns out to be a good read. If it's not, it won't be a waste. At least the writing makes up for it.

 

[LizKat]

A venture into escape literature in advance of the incoming snowstorm... Under the Tuscan Sun. I heard the book was very different from and far better than the movie if you don't mind excruciating detail of old house renovation. Anyway the golden light of Tuscany sounds good to me this morning, as I'm looking at leaden skies, the sort that would force me to turn on my Ott light if I stuck to my original plan to choose fabrics for a bargello project I want to make. A sunny day in January is perfect for fabric selection. This ain't it, baby. Talk about darkness at noon, we're there and it's not even 9am. So on to Tuscany!

 

[CrickettGrrrl]

A venture into escape literature in advance of the incoming snowstorm... Under the Tuscan Sun. I heard the book was very different from and far better than the movie if you don't mind excruciating detail of old house renovation. Anyway the golden light of Tuscany sounds good to me this morning, as I'm looking at leaden skies, the sort that would force me to turn on my Ott light if I stuck to my original plan to choose fabrics for a bargello project I want to make. A sunny day in January is perfect for fabric selection. This ain't it, baby. Talk about darkness at noon, we're there and it's not even 9am. So on to Tuscany!

Fortunately the book is NOTHING like the movie, except for the fact they're located in the same country. I read it a while ago, along with a ton of other books about renovating cow barns into villas in beautiful locations. I do revel in construction details. The money from the terrible movie allowed Frances Mayes to buy & renovate another property, so there was a silver lining at least.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

A venture into escape literature in advance of the incoming snowstorm... Under the Tuscan Sun. I heard the book was very different from and far better than the movie if you don't mind excruciating detail of old house renovation. Anyway the golden light of Tuscany sounds good to me this morning, as I'm looking at leaden skies, the sort that would force me to turn on my Ott light if I stuck to my original plan to choose fabrics for a bargello project I want to make. A sunny day in January is perfect for fabric selection. This ain't it, baby. Talk about darkness at noon, we're there and it's not even 9am. So on to Tuscany!

Fortunately the book is NOTHING like the movie, except for the fact they're located in the same country. I read it a while ago, along with a ton of other books about renovating cow barns into villas in beautiful locations. I do revel in construction details. The money from the terrible movie allowed Frances Mayes to buy & renovate another property, so there was a silver lining at least.

Sounds like very worthwhile reading on a bleak, depressing snowy afternoon stuck under charcoal skies. I'll freely admit to being something of a sucker for anything well written about Tuscany.

 

[AustinIllini]

All the Light We Cannot See by Anthony Doerr

Just started it. It got excellent reviews. Might be a bit too much of a soppy one but if it's a good story, all good.

75% done with this.

Not particularly soppy. I like it a lot.

 

[jeremy h]

I read these a long time ago - but seeing as today is the anniversary of the liberation of Auschwitz I would recommend just about anything by Primo Levi.

While his writing is profound as individual works - if they're read in order it makes them even more moving and memorable. Start with If this a Man - then read what of the others you want but finish with The Drowned and the Saved.

 

[Vincesapplemac]

Not so much a book, more a graphic novel, just reading all "The Authority" and "Stormwatch" graphic novels.

Very enjoyable