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Just finished Haruki Murakami's Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki And His Years Of Pilgrimage. Throughly enjoyed it. This was my second Murakami novel after reading Kafka On The Shore last May. I don't know which I prefer, but I liked the ending of Tsukuru Tazaki much more, that's for sure. Kafka had a bit of a more... atmospheric beginning though. 

Didn't touch it for like a week halfway through, kept forgetting.Finished the last 130 pages or so in a single sitting. Beautiful, great atmosphere throughout. Don't have much else to say... 

Advice: Put "Around" from Hotline Miami 2 OST (or if that isn't your thing, the best lyricless, calm, sad song you know) on repeat in the background, it fits the book so well. I usually don't listen to music while reading, but this is an exception. 

Going to finish The Moon Is A Harsh Mistress next. 

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I'm about 50% of the way through reading Updraft, a well-received debut fantasy novel. It's a little bit heavy-handed at times, and it started off a little bit slow, but the world it builds is unique and fascinating, and the plot and characters have all really pulled me in. From where I am so far, I'd definitely recommend it.

After that, I'll probably dig into Jim Butcher's recent release, The Aeronaut's Windlass. I'm a big fan of The Dresden Files (which is kind of growing long in the tooth, and not too far from wrapping up now) and the Codex Alera (which is done), so I'm pretty excited to see Butcher starting up a whole new series. I have really high hopes for this one.

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Haven't had time to read at all, busy with school and other stuff, but thanksgiving break has started for me, so I can finally settle down and enjoy a book, Started His Majesty's Dragon in the Temeraire series, I'm not really a huge dragon fan, but i'll read anything that's fantasy or sci-fi if it sounds interesting to me. 

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I read a lot I suppose. My favorite series is Harry Potter and I read mostly YA-fiction. Not Twilight or shit like that, though. I also like books bt Jodi Picoult. Trail/Court fiction is yummy to me. I loved The Book Thief. It was boring to me at first but I just got into it and cried at the end. To Kill a Mockingbird is a classic. 

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I read quite a lot.  I mostly read Sci-fi and Fantasy.  My favourite series are Discworld, Codex Alera and Dresden Files.  I am of the unpopular opinion among Jim Butcher's fans that Codex Alera was better than Dresden Files is.

Currently I'm reading Perdido Street Station by China Miéville.  I was really looking forward to reading it, but I'm finding it a hard slog.  I don't like any of the characters and while I don't mind complex language, he uses more "why use a simple word when you can use a complex or archaic one instead" than I like.  It's like he wrote the book using a thesaurus.

Edited by finiteHP
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Especially relevant to the last post, I just finished up Jim Butcher's most recent release, The Aeronaut's Windlass. Holy shit it is good. I'm now much more interested in seeing new books in this new Cinder Spires series than I am in seeing where The Dresden Files goes next. Just how the Codex Alera and The Dresden Files are quite different from each other, this is clearly another very distinct series. It's not just that the setting, the characters, and the magic have changed - the fundamental themes and values are also very different in each new world he builds, and this series is no exception. It's also got all the classic Jim Butcher elements - chaotic action, loveable characters, and suchlike. It was a fantastic read.

Next up I'll be reading the latest Mistborn novel. Brandon Sanderson is even higher on my "never disappoints" list than Jim Butcher, so I go into it with high hopes, even though Mistborn might actually be my least favorite Sanderson series at the moment...

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Currently I'm reading Perdido Street Station by China Miéville.  I was really looking forward to reading it, but I'm finding it a hard slog.  I don't like any of the characters and while I don't mind complex language, he uses more "why use a simple word when you can use a complex or archaic one instead" than I like.  It's like he wrote the book using a thesaurus.

Heh, it sounds like you have a similar reason for disliking him as the Penny Arcade crew: 

The difference between Neal Stephenson and China Miéville for me is that I never liked the latter, even though I’m supposed to; even though it is simply an accepted fact that people of any cognition whatsoever are turning each page with a shaking hand, ready to receive his next sacred revelation.  I own every one of his books, each time thinking this will be the one until his unique ocular drill begins to whir and I must hurl the book across the room or be blinded.  This may be the first time you have read on a website that China Miéville is something less than a God; I’ve certainly never seen it typed, which was reason enough to do it.

In trying to understand what it was precisely I found so intolerable, I recalled a song called “Fit But You Know It” by The Streets.  Being smart, or beautiful, or strong, or confident, or epitomizing any other virtue is whatever.  But you can push these things, you can grind them into another person, and we have social censure for this kind of behavior.  His writing is incredibly smug.  I can feel him leering at me through his typewriter, shoulders up, breathing hard.  That’s when I stand up, walk over to the bookshelf, and place it with the others.  No way.  We have no shared history; I’m not going to bore through one of these things out of deference to some prior affection. I don’t owe him shit.

Apparently he has a book where there are two cities and they, like, overlap.  That’s what I heard anyway, and if someone else had written it maybe that would matter. ... TB out.

i-x9xHBTp-1050x10000.jpg

 

Edited by Rooke
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Finished 'Salem's Lot a while back.  Not one of my favorite Stephen King novels, but it was rather refreshing to read a King novel about vampires (real vampires, to boot, not that pansy Twilight shit) instead of another one about malevolent spirits and psychic phenomena.  I was also pleased because it didn't suffer from trying to keep all of the main characters alive in an extremely dangerous situation, which never ceases to irritate me.  I'd recommend reading it if you live in a small town  ;)

Currently reading Sword of Destiny.  It's definitely not as good as the main Witcher series so far, but I'm not unhappy with it so far.  Gonna be reading the Watchmen compilation I'm getting for Christmas pretty soon~

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On December 28, 2015 at 0:58 AM, Funyarinpa said:

Borrowed The Color Of Magic from the library. 

Pratchett is somewhat witty but I don't agree with the Douglas Adams comparisons, Pratchett doesn't compare at all 

The first few Discworld books are kind of rough.  The general consensus is that they start to become good at Guards! Guards! and get better.  By the time I got to Reaper Man, Pratchett had become my favourite author.  Personally Adams doesn't compare at all.

 

Finished Jonathan Stroud's Bartimaes books.  Pretty good.  I'm now reading the Unbound short story anthology because it has a Dresden Files story.

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I haven't gotten anywhere near books in months, except for reading the first 200-300 pages or so of House Of Leaves.

Now I'm going through Murakami's The Wind-Up Bird Chronicle, and while it doesn't have that completely unique... flavor Kafka on the Shore had, it's still pretty good contemporary fiction. The curiosity, vagueness and surreality of the world is presented pleasantly and relaxedly, as always. 

I bought The Stars My Destination, which is great from what I read of it in the bookstore. I understand why @Scorp has a quote from it in their signature.

I also got A Fire Upon The Deep, which while nowhere near as captivating from the onset as The Stars My Destination is, has too interesting a premise to pass it up. Essentially, it takes place in a galaxy where the galaxy's split into four distinct regions in which different levels of life and intelligence can flourish.

There was also an incredible-looking hardcopy of Roverandom, but I didn't quite have the budget to buy it on its appearance alone.

 roverandom-pocket.jpg

Also wanted to buy a copy of Philip K. Dick's A Maze Of Death which seems to be my favorite trope "bunch of people trapped somewhere in which they start to die", I wanted to get started on Dick's works anyway. I'll probably pirate it and read it during commute.

 

 

 

 

 

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