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Post by Sargai on Jan 19, 2015 0:05:23 GMT -5
I began the struggle back from burn-out last month by taking a trip to the library. Could just pick up an e-book or something, but no... I had to leave the comfort of my home, brave the freezing Kansas wind, and drive across town instead. There was traffic and people and sunlight. It was awful, but I am broke and have it in my head that I won't read unless I have an actual book in my hands. The old fashioned way it is.
There was a time when I didn't leave a library without a stack of books. There was never a time when I would actually read all of them. Mostly, I just piled up late fees. Given the burn-out and that bit about being broke, one will do.
Browsing book shelves for hours in search of some hidden gem is no longer covered by my patience, so I checked the new book shelves, went through the regular shelves, and eventually left with Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami.
My experience with the author has been After Dark, which was excellent, and Hard-Boiled Wonderland and the End of the World, which was just too dilling weird for me. A hit and a miss. Colorless falls somewhere in between. It was engrossing, but the penchant for droning digression and the cheap excuse for an ending shines a negative light on what was otherwise a positive reading experience.
One book down. The struggle continues. I guess I'll keep hitting up the library and hope to keep stumbling across interesting reads.
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Post by Sargai on Jan 19, 2015 0:05:31 GMT -5
Second book down. This one, The Girl in the Road by Monica Byrne. This is my second go at this book, the first was back before release and lasted all of a chapter. I bailed because the style turned me off of it and I have no patience.
My last trip to the library was rushed. I needed to get in and get out and get on my way because sudden waves of nausea and stomach cramps don't pair well with combing through shelves. I ended up just going with this book because it was recognizable and I was still interested in reading it.
It was a decent book. It is, perhaps, better than decent, but it isn't the type of book that I enjoy. It reminds me why I dislike unreliable narrators. It is a good example of how forcing a narrative to reach a conclusion robs a story of impact and how reliance on the obvious undermines twists. The book has a annoying beginning, an interesting middle, and an end that is spelled out chapters ahead of time.
I may be generous in calling it a decent book given the above, but I don't regret reading it. The middle section, a travelogue that lacks progression and action and what most people seem to look for in book, was good enough on its own that it made the book worth reading. The rest isn't really anything special and nothing that I haven't seen before in books and elsewhere. I'd rant more, but this wasn't supposed to be a review.
Library is closed tomorrow. Going to have to wait another day to pick something up.
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Post by dragonreader on Jan 19, 2015 14:03:20 GMT -5
Over the weekend I finished Dead Beat book #7 in the Dresden Files by Jim Butcher. Great book!
Now reading an ARC of A Blink of the Screen a collection of short stories by Terry Pratchett.
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Post by dragonreader on Jan 21, 2015 8:57:12 GMT -5
I finished A Blink of the Screen by Terry Pratchett
And started This Crooked Way by James Enge
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Post by Sargai on Jan 21, 2015 21:56:42 GMT -5
I decided that I would only get one book per trip to the library because that is reasonable and I can manage that without pressure. One rule, just one simple rule to keep me going without the worry of failing back to burn-out. I failed that one pretty hard, but I'm hoping that I'll make it through all right.
Melodramatic? Yes. I have no shame.
The three books I picked up from the library today were:
Locke & Key, Vol 1: Welcome to Lovecraft
I vaguely recall reading the first issue of this comics series a few years ago. I can't remember what I thought about it, but I do know that I never made it past the first issue. This is not a surprise and doesn't speak for the quality of the series; I'm just not much of a comics fan. Others continued where I left off and it went on to become a popular and highly praised series, which meant that it never really dropped off my radar. I assumed that I would have another go at it eventually, but I had no real desire to do so.
I still don't have much of a desire to do so, but the point of this exercise is to get over that sort of shit.
The Hum and the Shiver by Alex Bledsoe
I have read a few novels that blend high-ish fantasy and detective genres to create what tends to end up as a gritty pile of shit. Alex Bledsoe stands out for writing the only one that was worth a damn. Because I am myself and always stumbling toward pretension instead of reading for enjoyment, I never read another of his books. This one is quite a bit different from the one that I read, as it looks to be an example of contemporary rural fantasy instead of high fantasy hijinks, but I am up for that.
Harvest by Jim Crace
"Because I am myself and always stumbling toward pretension[.]"
Really though, this book has some weighty recommendations behind it and I have been looking to read it for over a year now.
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Post by dragonreader on Feb 3, 2015 22:23:39 GMT -5
Finished This Crooked Way by James Enge. Good book.
Then I read War Cry a graphic novel in the Dresden Files series.
Now reading Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher, the 8th novel in the Dresden Files series.
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Post by Sargai on Feb 5, 2015 22:02:03 GMT -5
After great struggle with indifferent people and long holds, our router has been replaced. Our wi-fi signal is now stronger than one bar and, even better, the replacement is meant to handle a large amount of wireless devices... the very thing that apparently killed its ancient predecessor. I can watch anime again. I can stream music. I can stay connected longer than a minute at a time! I'd cheer, but I'm not into that sort of thing.
My craptastic internet connection played a large role in finishing THESE DREAMS OF YOU last night, in finishing it so quickly. There's not much distraction to be found when your connection lasts only a matter of minutes before disappearing into the aether. The book ushers things along, too. It is easy to get trapped reading the book, breezing from one short passage to the next as the book flows through time and around the world. Variations of just one more flashed through my head countless times--just one more passage and I'll do something else for a while; just this last passage because it is short; I should really read this one to finish off this page. On and on and on.
Erickson has written a rambling narrative that is just so many things. It is steeped in politics and pop culture, both often referenced in vague terms that might confuse people who can't take a hint or don't know a damn thing about history. There is a strong element of personal responsibility and ethics, which seems almost a joke at first before it spirals off to play a serious role in almost every part of the novel. Ultimately, it is a story of a girl and her family, both the one that has adopted her and the family that would eventually bring her into the world. It sprawls, across time, around the world, through fiction and back to the reality.
THESE DREAMS OF YOU is a joy to read even if, as I said before, the tension is hellish. I may not have lived through '68, but I was here in '08 and old enough to have felt the hope that came with our new president (a hope that, sadly, blossomed into cynicism) and the dread of recession. And in that latter regard the book does not hold back; it hits hard and fast and is relentless. The life our characters lead is an everyday, prolonged hell in which everything might be taken from them at any moment and the novel sets out see that through to fruition.
I'm glad to have read it.
Apparently, I chose the one book that isn't representative of the bulk of Erickson's work and is the lesser of the lot. Well, according to some random reviews, that is. I've nothing to compare it to. I am not disappointed though. Erickson is a damn good writer. If this is his lesser work, then I look forward to reading the rest.
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Post by dragonreader on Feb 13, 2015 21:41:08 GMT -5
OK, I finished Proven Guilty by Jim Butcher. Another great addition to the Dresedn Files series. I am really enjoying the series alot.
Next up Infinity Blade: Awakening a novella by Brandon Sanderson.
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Post by Avelyn on Feb 15, 2015 19:34:33 GMT -5
Started on Heart of a Lion, by Stephen Zimmer.
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Post by Avelyn on Feb 27, 2015 0:31:53 GMT -5
Finished Heart of a Lion. Now reading Trigger Warning, a short story anthology by Neil Gaiman.
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Post by Avelyn on Mar 8, 2015 8:52:40 GMT -5
Finished Trigger Warning. Now reading Rise of the King.
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Post by dragonreader on Mar 9, 2015 11:21:24 GMT -5
Finished:
Infinity Blade: Awakening and Infinity Blade: Redemption by Brandon Sanderson, White Night, book #9 in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher, and The Dark Tower: The Drawing of the Three: Prisoner a prequel graphic novel to Stephen King's Dark Tower series.
Now reading Small Favor, book #10 in the Dresden Files series by Jim Butcher.
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