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Originally posted by shrapnel View PostAbout a third of the way into "Children of time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Really enjoyable so far. Very Good Sci-Fi.Originally posted by MrsFlushdraw View PostIt is G R R Martin books, set 100 years before Game of Thrones. It is about Ser Duncan the Tall and Aegon Targaryen. (Aegon V)
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Originally posted by shrapnel View PostAbout a third of the way into "Children of time" by Adrian Tchaikovsky. Really enjoyable so far. Very Good Sci-Fi.
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Originally posted by davepoke/her View PostI finished Lonesome Dove last night. I think it might be my favourite novel ever.
Has anyone read the other 3 books and can recommend what order to read them in
Its ages ago but I think I read them in the order they were published which starts with Lonesome Dove followed by Streets of Laredo but then DeadMans walk came next but it is set before Lonesome Dove but then the last one published, Comanche moon, is set between LD and SoL.Turning millions into thousands
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Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View PostWell its that time of the year again when the top reads need to be decided. 37 books read. 15 non-fiction, 14 fiction, and an additional 8 detective/thriller books. A nice mix. The month-by-month tracking shows a disastrous start to the year with literally no books read for the entirety of January and February. Then it all kicked off. Presenting the top three fiction and top three non-fiction. Only two on the list weren't recommended by someone on here so its a rather stunning endorsement for the collective good taste of IPB.
Non-fiction
3. Peter Thiel 'Zero to One'
Peter Thiel ended the year having bankrupted gawker media for outing him as gay and being Trump's number one tech advocate, but earlier in the year when I read this he was a much more niche personality despite having founded Paypal and funded an incredible number of highly successful startups at their beginning (buying 10% of Facebook for $500,000 being the famous one). This is his view on what makes a successful startup. Thought it was fascinating as its evidentally true but never seen it expressed quite like this before. (tl;dr form a monopoly). Maybe a bit of a niche recommendation as not everyone wants to read about this topic.
2. David Carr 'The Night of the Gun'
A New York Times journalist investigation into his own drug addiction. It's very different and some story. Google informs that Bob Odenkirk is going to be starring in the TV dramatisation of the story which is probably all we need to know in terms of a recommendation.
1. David Epstein 'The Sports Gene'
Its entirely possible everyone on IPB has read this, as it was all we talked about for about a month (thanks to Trippie?). Full of brilliance on what leads to sporting success and whether it is genes or attaining that magical number of 10,000 hours of practice. A bit like Moneyball in that you can read it even if you aren't particularly interested in some magical formula for sporting success. Excellently written and clearly well informed.
Non-fiction also-rans:
These two deserve some sort of mention even if they didn't make the top three:
1. Mark Kurlansky 'Cod'. The history of cod. Its surprisingly interesting.
2. David Johnson 'Where Good Ideas Come From'. A fairly self-explanatory title, and the type of book that will have your mind wandering through past ideas you've had.
Fiction
3. Neal Stephenson 'Snow Crash'
A bit like Ready Player One which made last year's top reads. But a star in its own right (thanks either AJ or AFB who recommended it). Set in a futuristic world with a blend between reality and virtual reality worlds. Its rather excellent, apart from one weird bit in the middle which doesn't distract from its overall worth.
2. Kurt Vonnegut 'Breakfast of Champions'.
This was a whole lot of fun. Was trying to choose between this and Cat's Cradle by him which was also read. The humour in Breakfast of Champions won the day combined with his classic take on a story. Takes about three hours to read, so its not a big commitment unlike the first placed novel which is a beast of a read.
1. Stephen King '11/22/63'.
No fancy-schmancy literary masturbation for the top, just a great great story. Please don't watch the TV series over the book as its all about letting your imagination run wild as you follow the protaganist on his journey as you read along. A common criticism is that the ending is a slight let-down but I think its just that you don't want the story to end. Bravo Mr King the Bard of 2016! And bravo to DP for making just one recommendation on books all year and having it turn out to be an all-star shot.
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I hated 11/22/63 and gave up on Snow Crash about 10 pages in.
I read 57 books last year, well over half were fantasy I'd say.
Best Fantasy -
The Name of the Wind/The Wise Mans Fear
Bloodsong
The Lies of Locke Lamora
Best of the rest -
Lonesome Dove
The Corner
The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time
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Based on what I remembered to put into Goodreads I read 22 new books this year. Didn't count the load of books I reread (must have listened to Roger Zelazny's first five Amber books three or four times over the year).
The end of the Malazan series was probably the highlight, but Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep and I, Claudius were also great.
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read quite a few this year, and it might be age but i've not been impressed by many.
read the sports gene hitch mentioned and definitely in my top 6 but still, it just feels like a collection of facts and stats with a moral of, if nature hasn't doped you in some way then you have little chance of winning in most sports nowadays.
children of time by tchaikovsky is firmly in the top 5. Very good futuristic sci-fi.
really enjoyed the anansi boys by neil gayman in the same vein and off the back of american gods which made hitch's top 6 last year
jeez, off the 20 or so books i've read (other than rereads), that's all i can recommend
as an aside though, i've reread intervention and then the galactic milieu trilogy by Julian May. Sooo good for the science fiction fans.
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Originally posted by shrapnel View Postread quite a few this year, and it might be age but i've not been impressed by many.
read the sports gene hitch mentioned and definitely in my top 6 but still, it just feels like a collection of facts and stats with a moral of, if nature hasn't doped you in some way then you have little chance of winning in most sports nowadays.
children of time by tchaikovsky is firmly in the top 5. Very good futuristic sci-fi.
really enjoyed the anansi boys by neil gayman in the same vein and off the back of american gods which made hitch's top 6 last year
jeez, off the 20 or so books i've read (other than rereads), that's all i can recommend
as an aside though, i've reread intervention and then the galactic milieu trilogy by Julian May. Sooo good for the science fiction fans.
Fred Vargas' character of Adamsberg is great, as is his squad of alcoholics, philosophers, idiot savants, verse speakers and morbidly obese murder cops.
Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano is also excellent - and very funny. His descriptions of Sicilian food make me want to go there.
Clear winner though is Leif Persson's Backstrom. Rude, sexist, homophobic, corrupt and with an inner monologue that has made me collapse with laughter a few times. He also has interesting observations to make on Swedish society at large.
Cousinly lendage available."We are not Europeans. Those people on the continent are freaks."
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Originally posted by Keane View PostRead Blink several years ago while in Nice.
I remember loving the start of it, thinking it was going to be great then finishing it a few days later lamenting what a pile of shit it ended up being.
He's kind of right Das Kapital is the work that should be read its even more relevant today than it was when first published.Turning millions into thousands
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In anticipation for the new year I powered through this in a few hours; his light anecdotal style makes for easy reading.
In a year when pundits and journalists struggled so hard to understand Trump's tactics it was quite something to realise that he had explained it all over thirty years ago. He has a chapter on hyperbole, a chapter on the benefits of free publicity, and sections about loyalty to friends, while counter-punching those that attack him. Tremendous book, one of the best.
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Originally posted by Keane View PostRead Blink several years ago while in Nice.
I remember loving the start of it, thinking it was going to be great then finishing it a few days later lamenting what a pile of shit it ended up being.
Originally posted by Strewelpeter View PostI'm sure Deny's Why is aimed at the Communist Manifesto
He's kind of right Das Kapital is the work that should be read its even more relevant today than it was when first published.
I like reading the same books to discuss them in general as he's a rather intelligent partner to do so with.
I've given him Ender's Game (as it is on military reading lists which is rare for that kind of book) and The Worldly Philosophers: The Lives, Times And Ideas Of The Great Economic Thinkers for christmas so they shall be next on the discussion agendaLast edited by Tar.Aldarion; 03-01-17, 12:22.
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Originally posted by Tar.Aldarion View PostHope it's better than you make out! I certainly think "what the dog saw" is very good, even though Gladwell's work is other peoples work repackaged, it's very interesting well put together reading so far.
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Anyone here ever read The Mote in God's Eye? The brief description I read caught my eye.
In the year 3016, the Second Empire of Man spans hundreds of star systems, thanks to the faster-than-light Alderson Drive. No other intelligent beings have ever been encountered, not until a light sail probe enters a human system carrying a dead alien. The probe is traced to the Mote, an isolated star in a thick dust cloud, and an expedition is dispatched.
Robert A. Heinlein, who gave the authors extensive advice on the novel, described the story as “possibly the finest science fiction novel I have ever read.”
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Gladwell was a fucktard when those books came out!
Havent read/listened to anything by him since so have no opinion on the current state of his fucktardary
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Finished Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko. Would recommend.
After the People Lights Have Gone Off by Stephen Graham Jones.
I like short Stories ...always reading Lovecraft. and Catherine Mansfield Harlan Ellison.
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Originally posted by Strewelpeter View PostI'm sure Deny's Why is aimed at the Communist Manifesto
He's kind of right Das Kapital is the work that should be read its even more relevant today than it was when first published.
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Originally posted by Raoul Duke III View PostI've been reading quite a bit of foreign detective fiction for light relief.
Fred Vargas' character of Adamsberg is great, as is his squad of alcoholics, philosophers, idiot savants, verse speakers and morbidly obese murder cops.
Andrea Camilleri's Inspector Montalbano is also excellent - and very funny. His descriptions of Sicilian food make me want to go there.
Clear winner though is Leif Persson's Backstrom. Rude, sexist, homophobic, corrupt and with an inner monologue that has made me collapse with laughter a few times. He also has interesting observations to make on Swedish society at large.
Cousinly lendage available.
another good french one is called the marseille trilogy by Jean Claude Izzo.
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I'm making my way through Perrson's Backstrom books as well, very much enjoyed the trilogy about the secret service and the Palme murder which only feature our hero as a bit of comic relief.
Read the new Harris last week, its not his greatest* but it is a typically thumping good read that carries you along at its own pace and you'll read it in less time than the conclave takes. I would also avoid reading too much about it in advance, it depends on some preposterous plot devices to move the action along but the reader should roll with them as they also serve another useful function that only becomes clear in retrospect.
*I think we said the same about his Dreyfuss novel at the time but the more I think about that one the more I like it.
Am also reading Ted Chiangs short stories since seeing Arrival, my thoughts on watching the film was that it must have been based on a great short story, turns out that the film was a really clever expansion of the story to make a great film while managing to capture the essence of the quite abstract concepts he was writing about. So far none of the stories have really hit home, hes much better at ideas than he is at writing but not half as clever as he thinks he is. Poor mans JG Ballard IMO
The other books I have loved recently are Patricia Highsmith's I've read some short stories, Strangers on a train Carol all brilliant but the Ripley novels are especially brilliant. What a magnificent writer she is, absolutely effortless prose that flows so smoothly you hardly realise how rich it is.Turning millions into thousands
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Originally posted by PeaceandFire View PostFinished Nightwatch by Sergei Lukyanenko. Would recommend.
After the People Lights Have Gone Off by Stephen Graham Jones.
I like short Stories ...always reading Lovecraft. and Catherine Mansfield Harlan Ellison.
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Originally posted by MrsFlushdraw View PostI used to have the RPG Call of Cthulhu, that and one called Palladium which were darker than the other ones out there.
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Read "Six characters in search of an author". I'm definitely in the supporters camp, and that's before I find out Pirandello was a fascist!
Reading "How Not to Be Wrong: The Power of Mathematical Thinking", based on the farnam street recommendation.
Also stumbled across a BBC 2016 adaption of War and Peace that was really excellent and I've started reading the book, good luck to me. At least it's far more accessible than when I tried reading it at 10 or 11. (FU Hitch! )
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English author Mo Hayders books about DI Jack Caffrey are worth a read.
Detective Inspector Jack Caffery is with the Major Crime Investigation Unit in Bristol (UK). Birdman (Jack Caffery, #1), The Treatment (Jack Caffery, #2)...
I started them thinking they would just be a standard police procedural, and in some ways they are. They are also extremely disturbing, some of the weirdest 'keep you awake at night' scenarios ever put to page.
Must be read in order as they contain previous book spoilers, and continuing story arcs.
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Originally posted by Hitchhiker's Guide To... View PostConclave. Thought it was brill, but have no ability to rationally judge his work given my unswerving crush on everything he writes. The background of how a pope is elected was rather fascinating.
You mentioned a couple of years ago about reading outside your 'comfort zone' when you started reading Ubik and things like that. I've been on a similar tear the last two months when I realised I was miles behind my Goodreads target for the year and had to start picking books based on how short they are!
Two absolute beauties that I possibly would never had read otherwise that I got through in the last couple of weeks are Siddhartha and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which I subsequently found out is being made into a film being shot in Ireland at the moment.
Started 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' last night having never read anything by Capote before and the writing is just brilliant.
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Originally posted by Keane View PostI heard either himself or someone else on the radio talking about it a few months ago and it sounded interesting but I never got around to it. Must put it on the list as I really enjoyed the Cicero books (although came to those with a geeky passion for late Republic history already).
You mentioned a couple of years ago about reading outside your 'comfort zone' when you started reading Ubik and things like that. I've been on a similar tear the last two months when I realised I was miles behind my Goodreads target for the year and had to start picking books based on how short they are!
Two absolute beauties that I possibly would never had read otherwise that I got through in the last couple of weeks are Siddhartha and We Have Always Lived in the Castle, which I subsequently found out is being made into a film being shot in Ireland at the moment.
Started 'Breakfast at Tiffany's' last night having never read anything by Capote before and the writing is just brilliant.
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