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Thread: What are you currently reading?

  1. #3451
    facetious maximus Yves's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sturgeon's Lawyer View Post
    That seems to have been a common disease of "Golden Age" SF writers -- Heinlein became obsessed with sexuality and especially tits; Asimov was just a dirty old man. Of the really big names of that period, only Clarke seems to have avoided this -- and he was gay.

    Just sayin'.

    If you've read them before, then you know that the sixth one ends on a rather mysterious cliffhanger. The "Dune Industries" team of Brian Herbert and Kevin J. Anderson have written a two-volume conclusion to this, based (or so they say) on an outline for "Dune 7" left by Frank. The books are Hunters of Dune and Sandworms of Dune.

    However...

    ...to really follow what is going on in those books, you kind of have to have read their "Legends of Dune" trilogy, set ten thousand years before the original Dune; characters from that trilogy reappear (and, yes, even after tens of thousands of years, it does make sense, within the parameters of the Duniverse). Of the many Dune prequels they have [S]churned out[/S] written since taking on Daddy Herbert's poorly-fitting mantle, this trilogy is probably the best.

    I am not encouraging you to read any of these. Neither am I discouraging you. I'm ... informing.
    I have read these original 6 before. I do not remember the ending but recall that things were not "settled" and Herbert's son completed the series with notes from his dad and the aid of Anderson.. I have read the first 2 prequel series, but ended at Butlerian Jihad. Not sure if I will be going down that whole pipeline again.
    "Corn Flakes pissed in. You ranted. Mission accomplished. Thread closed."

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  2. #3452
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Finish it - I'll be interested to hear what you think. I enjoyed his writing.
    Thanks, I will. I like it so far, and I'm enjoying his writing style. This is my first Straub book. The book itself is giving me some Stephen King vibes (mostly from the large cast of characters, the small town aesthetic, and the theme of "ancient, recurring evil"), but the actual voice of the writing is quite different and it makes me interested in checking out more of his stuff.
    "what's better, peanut butter or g-sharp minor?"
    - Sturgeon's Lawyer, 2021

  3. #3453
    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    I hadn't heard that Clarke was gay - kind of surprising, really.
    He wasn't terribly open about it (not surprising considering when he grew up).

    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    I finished Peter Straub's Floating Dragon today. I thought it was just Ok. Well written, but he uses one technique that really bothered me, and the overall story, while it drew me in, becomes too convoluted and sort of more like a fantasy novel than horror. Some good characters and character interaction though.
    I'm curious what that technique is? Straub is one of the most, well, literate writers in the history of the horror genre.

    Quote Originally Posted by JKL2000 View Post
    Now I've just started Swan Song by Robert R. McCammon. My first book by him.
    I also read that, years ago, expecting it to be a ripoff of The Stand. It quite surprised me. And it was my first McCammon.
    Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.

  4. #3454
    Just finished Daniel Cole - Hangman, Ragdoll book 2
    Now started Karen Joy Fowler - Booth

  5. #3455
    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    Reading Michael Lewis "The Premonition," about how the George W. Bush and Obama administrations created pandemic response teams, and the next administration tore them down and threw away the pieces.

  6. #3456
    Member moecurlythanu's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by rcarlberg View Post
    Reading Michael Lewis "The Premonition," about how the George W. Bush and Obama administrations created pandemic response teams, and the next administration tore them down and threw away the pieces.
    Greatness makes it's own path.

  7. #3457
    Member Lopez's Avatar
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    Joe R. Lansdale - Jane Goes North

    A preposterous road trip with two trailer-trash women who encounter a Rascal-riding security guard at the Save-Mart and a 400-lb white slaver and her assorted minions.
    Lou

    Looking forward to my day in court.

  8. #3458
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    Just started Ron & Clint Howard's autobiography "The Boys - A Memoir Of Hollywood And Family". Pretty interesting so far. Ron started his acting career at 3 years old, but was able to avoid most of the problems child actors have in eventually transitioning to adult roles. Clint has not had a lot to say so far, but he started acting pretty young too.

  9. #3459
    Karen Joy Fowler - Booth a novel about the familymembers of the murderer of Abraham Lincoln.

  10. #3460
    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sturgeon's Lawyer
    Heinlein became obsessed with sexuality and especially tits
    What's wrong with tits?

  11. #3461
    Did I say there was anything wrong with them?
    Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.

  12. #3462
    Member rcarlberg's Avatar
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    You implied being obsessed with them was somehow wrong.

  13. #3463
    Quote Originally Posted by thedunno View Post
    I finished over the last few weeks:

    Kazuo Ishiguro - Never let me go (very good!)
    I really enjoyed this one, I’m a huge Ishiguro fan. I recommend his latest Klara and the Sun,which is in similar vein to Never Let Me Go.

  14. #3464
    The Marriage Portrait by Maggie O'Farrell.

    O'Farrell is, I think, one of the best prose writers in English today. And her last novel, Hamnet, was an extraordinary achievement. This new book focuses on Lucrezia, fifth child of Cosimo & Eleanora de Medici, & her marriage to Alfonso, Duke of Ferara. Some might recall Browning's superb dramatic monologue poem, "My Last Duchess", with which this novel seems to be in conversation.

  15. #3465
    Member thedunno's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by Sunlight Caller View Post
    I really enjoyed this one, I’m a huge Ishiguro fan. I recommend his latest Klara and the Sun,which is in similar vein to Never Let Me Go.
    I read Klara and the Sun last year. Great stuff. I have 'The Selfish Giant' still on the (virtual) shelf.

  16. #3466
    Member interbellum's Avatar
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    Someone gave me a Dutch translation of Paganinikontraktet (Swedish title) by Lars Kepler (pseudonime for the writers-couple Ahndoril. The thriller is also known as The Nightmare.
    Although I like the story so far, the writing-style for me is too much that of a scenario-writer of tv-thrillers; everything, every action and feeling is being explained, which isn't something I'm used to in the literarure I normally read.

  17. #3467
    Member wideopenears's Avatar
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    Just started Ornette Coleman:The Territory and the Adventure.
    "And this is the chorus.....or perhaps it's a bridge...."

  18. #3468
    Quote Originally Posted by rcarlberg View Post
    You implied being obsessed with them was somehow wrong.
    I wrote this:

    That seems to have been a common disease of "Golden Age" SF writers -- Heinlein became obsessed with sexuality and especially tits; Asimov was just a dirty old man. Of the really big names of that period, only Clarke seems to have avoided this -- and he was gay.
    I admit that this was fairly judgmental regarding Asimov (but then I actually saw that); with regards to RAH, all I said was that he was obsessed, I made no value judgements on the subject -- unless you consider the word "obsessed" to be in and of itself a value judgement, of course. I don't.
    Cobra handling and cocaine use are a bad mix.

  19. #3469
    Member Lopez's Avatar
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    Quote Originally Posted by SteveSly View Post
    Just started Ron & Clint Howard's autobiography "The Boys - A Memoir Of Hollywood And Family". Pretty interesting so far. Ron started his acting career at 3 years old, but was able to avoid most of the problems child actors have in eventually transitioning to adult roles. Clint has not had a lot to say so far, but he started acting pretty young too.
    I'm putting this one on my to-read list. I've always had a fascination with Clint ever since seeing him as Eaglebauer in Rock 'n' Roll High School. Just watched him in The Ice-Cream Man the other night. Wow, was he creepy. He's one of the guests at this coming weekend's Horror Show in Telluride, CO. Sorry I'm missing it this year.
    Lou

    Looking forward to my day in court.

  20. #3470
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lopez View Post
    I'm putting this one on my to-read list. I've always had a fascination with Clint ever since seeing him as Eaglebauer in Rock 'n' Roll High School. Just watched him in The Ice-Cream Man the other night. Wow, was he creepy. He's one of the guests at this coming weekend's Horror Show in Telluride, CO. Sorry I'm missing it this year.
    The book goes back and forth between Ron and Clint telling their stories from sometimes different perspectives. I had completely forgotten that Clint was the star of Gentle Ben when he was a kid. I am just getting to that part in the book.

  21. #3471
    Member Lopez's Avatar
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    I've been on a Joe Lansdale binge lately and still have Blood and Lemonade to go, but I've put that aside to get back into mob-related nonfiction. I'm about half way through Sonny: The Last of the Old-Time Mafia Bosses John "Sonny" Franzese. He lived to be 103. Seems that most wise guys don't last half that.

    Just checked my local library and they have available the Howard brothers' book. I'll take a walk down there later today to get it.
    Lou

    Looking forward to my day in court.

  22. #3472
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    Quote Originally Posted by Lopez View Post
    I've been on a Joe Lansdale binge lately and still have Blood and Lemonade to go, but I've put that aside to get back into mob-related nonfiction. I'm about half way through Sonny: The Last of the Old-Time Mafia Bosses John "Sonny" Franzese. He lived to be 103. Seems that most wise guys don't last half that.

    .
    I will have to look into this one as it sounds right up my alley. I often watch his son Michael's podcasts you YouTube and have read one of his books too. Sonny is one of the few mob bosses that lived to old age in freedom. Although he did spend some time in jail, he got out and never went back in . Thanks for the tip!

  23. #3473
    Member BobM's Avatar
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    Been reading The Fifth Season series by N.K. Jemisin. The first book is brilliant, and won awards. The second is (unfortunately) what you expect in a trilogy - just get through it. I'm at the very end of the third book and it's all coming to a head. Definitely a must read for anyone into sci-fi fantasy. I can't call this pure fantasy and it really isn't sci-fi, but isn;t that inability to characterize what makes great books?
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  24. #3474
    Quote Originally Posted by thedunno View Post
    I read Klara and the Sun last year. Great stuff. I have 'The Selfish Giant' still on the (virtual) shelf.
    The Buried Giant? It’s very different but another winner, hope you enjoy when you virtually pluck it from the shelf.

  25. #3475
    Bleak House

    My favourite novel (after Ulysses).
    Until I read Middlemarch.
    Time to revisit...

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