Amph What book are you reading right now?

Too much time on your hands, Saintheart?

 

Robert Edsel's Monument Men. Good book so far. I enjoyed the movie, but the deeper I get into the book, the more I think that this really should have been a miniseries or possibly even a full fledged TV show.

 

Gone Girl - Gillian Flynn



Wife disappears on the morning of her fifth anniversary. Things unfold from there, but you really need to know nothing else when you start reading for the full effect of this magnificent thriller. In Nick & Amy Dunne, Flynn has created two really indelible characters and the book sort of transcends the crime genre to become a nihilistic little story about human nature. The plot is crackerjack and the writing is sharp. I was disappointed by the ending, but up until about the last ten pages, it was absolutely brilliant. Though I think if a man wrote it, there would be an outcry against the book; it's really pretty misogynistic, interestingly enough. The David Fincher film is forthcoming and, after reading the book, I'm concerned about the casting. I'd read the book first, so you don't have Ben Affleck cluttering up your head when you read it. Very good book. Recommended. *** 1/2 stars.

 

The Atlantis Plague

 

Yes, reddit tends to be like that

 

Quicksilver
volume 1 of the Baroque cycle
by Neal Stephenson

 

Anathem by Neal Stephenson

and

The Subjugation of Women - John Stuart Mills

 

Is he for it or against it?

 

I, Partridge: We Need To Talk About Alan by Alan Gordon Partridge.



I've spoiled myself as I've already listened to the audiobook, but it's so good.

 

He's against it. But the writing is more about the inherent cultural inequality that places women as second class citizens. Writing is a bit a dated, mate, but a great read since the equality that he speaks on is still escaping us.

 

Limit by Frank Schatzing. Reviews of this 1200 + page book are mixed, all of them saying it's too long. I got it for $4 at a giant used book sale. 2025, space elevator, lunar outpost, cyber sleuth, hacker, billionaire, hopefully it delivers.

 

Nope. I gave it 125 pages. Blah. Nothing to see here.

 

Godlike Machines

A short story collection.

 

Journey to the Centre of the Earth. More Verne. I thought it was an excellent adventure, making a lot out of the exploration and science. It really only teases the underground-lost-world aspect before shooting everybody out a volcano, but it works. It would definitely have been a different book if it had lingered in the lost world, but I think this way, focusing on the suspense of the journey, suits Verne's style and works. Verne's characters are really well constructed; the narrator Axel is a young man, a student/nephew who is very smart and highly scientifically literate, making him a useful skeptical foil to the Professor rather than an exposition-receiving dummy/audience stand-in. His expertise also helps give his doubt and enthusiasm more weight. Professor Lidenbrock is a perfect mad scientist character, mostly because he isn't played as a kooky eccentric but as kind of an a-hole, a monomaniac fanatically devoted to the journey to the point of delusion and largely indifferent to the risk to his companions. Hans, the guide, is amusing in just how far his nonchalance is played up, as the stolid, stoic Icelander shows no reaction to their crazy adventures. Overall, it's just very well-crafted scientific-expedition adventure.

 

I have fond memories of my dad reading that to me when I was very small...

They'd have been utterly ****** without Hans, eh?

 

Shaman by Kim Stanley Robinson. Not bad so far.

 

Lawrence in Arabia by Scott Anderson. great read

 

Theodore Rex by Edmund Morris. There were like thirty years in between this book and its predecessor, The Rise of Theodore Roosevelt, but it's a surprisingly natural followup and doesn't miss a beat. Unfortunately it's substantially more cynical than the first entry - whereas that book was a portrait of a young idealist hungry for as much power as he could get his hands on, in this book he's gotten everything he ever wanted, and the obnoxious realities of the day's politics are unavoidable. The chapter on his first meetings with Booker T. Washington broke my heart.

 

I love Morris's TR biography. Roosevelt was an endlessly fascinating subject, and Morris does a great job with him in all three volumes.

Yeah, he pretty much does everything while the others stand around, then take all the credit at the end.

 

Artemis, Julian Stockwin's second volume of his Kydd series focusing on the life of a sailor in Nelson's navy. It's moving kind of slowly, but the atmosphere makes it worth the effort.

 

"Sonar the Crashing" by B Truly.
If I hadn't won it, I would be done with it. The writing is juvenile and that's not the target audience.

 

The Dragon DelaSangre

 

The Dogs of Riga by Henning Mankell.

I've seen the episode of Wallander based on the book, but it's been a study in contrasts so far, in large part because of the time frame. In Wallander, the story takes place in present day, where the book takes place in 1991.

 

Tales from Margaritaville, by Jimmy Buffett. Crazy plots about crazy characters. The man knows how to tell a story.

 

All You Need is Kill: Haven't finished it quite yet, but I've read enough to see where's going. The only thing it shares with the movies is the idea and the "FULL METAL B@$^&". Other than that's it's completely different, even down to the mimics. Book actually gives a rather interesting explanation of how the War got started, how the mimics got created, and what the whole thing is about.

Still, I can only say that the book has to be read over a few days. If your like me and been reading this thing aboug several weeks, then I don't think you'll like it. It's meant to be read fast. I've read many of the classics when it comes to Sy-fy, and I can't really say this deserves to be next to them. Good book, but nothing superb.

Next up for me: Punk Rock Jesus

Then "Battle Cry of Freedom."