I Just Read... Books Thread

[King Kamala]

Currently reading Reaganland by Rick Perlstein. It's final part of quadrilogy on the rise of the U.S conservative movement from 1960 to 1980. So this one covers 1976 to 1980...honestly kind of a slog so far. The Carter Presidency really is p. boring, especially since first three books covered Civil Rights Movement & JFK Assassination (1960-64), The Vietnam War/more assassinations' (1964-70), and Watergate & the bicenntenial (1970-76).

As a whole, series is a great look at how conservatives slowly chipped away at and/or outright prevented progressive reforms over second half of 20th century. Also parallels between Trump & Reagan are kind of resounding. Even liberals can kind of romanticize Reagan as kindly grandfather type but he was a blustery idiot hack!

 

[Baby Shoes]

Currently reading Reaganland by Rick Perlstein. It's final part of quadrilogy on the rise of the U.S conservative movement from 1960 to 1980. So this one covers 1976 to 1980...honestly kind of a slog so far. The Carter Presidency really is p. boring, especially since first three books covered Civil Rights Movement & JFK Assassination (1960-64), The Vietnam War/more assassinations' (1964-70), and Watergate & the bicenntenial (1970-76).

As a whole, series is a great look at how conservatives slowly chipped away at and/or outright prevented progressive reforms over second half of 20th century. Also parallels between Trump & Reagan are kind of resounding. Even liberals can kind of romanticize Reagan as kindly grandfather type but he was a blustery idiot hack!

But he made cowboy movies so AMERICA

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Been working through the Monk series of books mostly by Lee Goldberg (and later Hy Conrad IIRC). Just fun, solid stuff especially if you're a fan of the TV show. Currently have read 10 of the series and I think there's like 18 total or somewhere around that number.

 

[tekcop]

Dostoevsky biography that focuses more on the social conditions and literary trends in Russia at the time he wrote each of his novels than on his personal life. I'm only up to Dostoevsky's second novel, The Double so far, but it's really neat stuff.

 

[muzzington]

Listened to The Girl With The Dragon Tattoo on Audible. Enjoyed the reading very much.

Swedes drink a whole lot of coffee.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

Jan thru April Reading; 66 Books just under 22k pages, with an averaged out page length of 333 pages. Longest book was a biography on Jimmy Carter at just over 1000. Shortest was a single issue comic at 49 pages. Best nonfiction was Obama's biography, best fiction was the first omnibus of Glen Cook's Black Company, best comic was any of the volumes of The Immortal Hulk I read.


I don't know if I ever mentioned The Black Company books in here to anyone but @muzzington https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/400924.Chronicles_of_the_Black_Company if you haven't heard of these and ar elooking for something to read then these are fantastic either in the onimbus or indivudallly. There are 9 books (or 3 omni). These are the books that inspired pretty much everyone who does the anti-hero/political/merc fantasy but especially GRR Martin.

 

[muzzington]

I'll check those out, I was looking for another fantasy-esque series to start so I'm set with this and the first Witcher book.

 

[King Kamala]

Currently reading We Had A Little Real Estate Problem by Kliph Nesteroff.

I've been reading Kliph's blogs about the history of stand up comedy and listening to his podcast appearances for about a decade now. His first book The Comedians was solid but a bit overview-y. This one, to me, though is way way stronger and right in his wheelhouse. A deep dive into a very specific corner of stand up; the history of Native American comedians. It's almost all stuff that I didn't know, even as a stand up comedy history geek. V. good.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

We Own This City

Baltimore, 2015. Riots were erupting across the city as citizens demanded justice for Freddie Gray, a twenty-five-year-old black man who ...

www.goodreads.com

Haven;t finished it yet but it's good enough to mention it already. HBO is making a mini-series out of by David Simon.

Incredibly frustrating to read as you'd expect about any book involving police corruption (or policing in general). I have to read it in small doses honestly.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

The God is Not Willing (Witness, #1)

Many years have passed since three Teblor warriors brou…

www.goodreads.com

FINALLY got this today. It's the first book in the next in-universe series by my favourite author.

 

[muzzington]

The Emperor's Blades (Chronicle of the Unhewn Throne, #1)

The circle is closing. The stakes are high. And old truths will live again... The Emperor has been murdered, leaving the Annurian Empire...

www.goodreads.com

Listened to the audiobook... liked it! Probably going to get the others in the series.

Not sure I should read reviews on Goodreads though, everything seems to be 5 stars or 2 stars. Opinions from "I couldn't put it down!" to "Used the word concrete which was anachronistic! 2 stars!"

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

yeah goodreads reviews you have to really look for someone who seems like they actually put time into reviewing it. I normally take them as just a general bellweather.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

It's a new year so here's my 2021 reading stats via my goodreads:
198 books read (down from 205)
Avg page length 300.6 (way up from 218.7)
Longest: Executioner's Song by Norman Mailer (1,056 pages)
Shortest: Family Trees Vol 1 (96 pages)
Best Comics: Immortal Hulk, Ascender, Department of Truth, Beta Ray Bill
Fiction: The God Is Not Willing, Foundryside, The Licanius Trilogy
Non-Fiction: A Bridge Too Far, Executioner's Song, A Promised Land, Unworthy Republic

 

[The Amazing Rando]

I own 34 books that I either haven't started or are in some state of reading. Some of them are graphic novels, many are non-fiction tomes (various Disney art books, yes), but to begin 2022 I have finished Susanna Clarke's "Piranesi". Gotta love a good journal gimmick. I know 34 isn't many, and while I plan to cut that number down this year, I know the more I read and finish the more I will feel like I need to refill the unread list.

Edit: Actually, the number isn't 34. It's higher than that. But 34 of them are the ones I wish to make an effort to finish. I probably have another ten around my shelves that I bought on whims that don't - at the moment - appeal to me.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

My brother lent me his copies of The Witcher books and I've read all but the last two of the core series (read both of the short stories collections). They're all very good and enjoyable. I see why the "hardcore" fans are unhappy with some of the changes the tv show made (although bitching about diversity changes is stupid) but some of it is just stuff they needed to do to keep the plotting easier for a series that's already hard to follow for a lot of people.

My main takeaway is that Dandelion/Jasker in the books is a useless inconsiderate asshole who I wish would fuck off and die. The games (and show to an extent) make him far more tolerable.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

Got a bunch of fantasy books for my birthday and I've been working my way through them:

Joe Abercrombie: The Wisdom of Crowds
This is the latest book by Joe Abercrombie in his "First Law"-verse and the last book in the current trilogy. He's the big name in "Grim Dark" fantasy. I haven't started this one yet but all of his other books have been great.

Daniel Abraham: Age of Ash
Abraham is the co-author of "The Expanse" and has written several other fantasy series I enjoyed. This is the first book in a new series with the setting being based (at least in this book) all in one city. Not as good as some of his other work but there's a lot of interesting ideas.

Anthony Ryan: The Pariah
Half-way through this. His previous series have been enjoyable. This seems good.

Django Wexler: Blood of the chosen
This is the second book in the series. Lot of interesting ideas. I like the other series he has that's like "Napoleon but Demonic Magic y'all" more though.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Currently been working my way through Wild Minds by Reid Mitenbuler, which is a great coverage of the earlier history of animation beyond just Walt Disney.

 

[muzzington]

Finished the first two books in the Battletech universe. Played the Mechwarrior games when I was younger so it was nice to delve a bit deeper into that world. Well-read by Tren Sparks although I feel some narrators try a bit too hard with female voices. Girl with the Dragon Tattoo didn't really have this issue with Lisbeth Salander and co.

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[cobainwasmurdered]

First third of the year stats:
70 books (198 total last year)
280 page avg (301 avg last year)

way behind on my comics reading and I've gota bunch of books I haven't gotten to. Also planning on going to the used bookstore for the first time since COVID hit this week so I';ll have a ton of stuff to read.

 

[BruiserBrody]

Found the book "The Little Bear" for a quarter at a rummage sale this AM. I had it as a tyke but haven't thought of it in decades. Reading it this AM filled my cold black heart with nostalgia and good vibes.
Off to flea markets all weekend to hopefully capture that feeling again.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Knocked out The Big Short by Michael Lewis. A fascinating read and really interesting, more so than the movie IMO.

 

[tekcop]

Finished the 3rd and last memoir, Dependency, by Danish novelist and poet Tove Ditlevsen. The ending kinda fucked me up because it ends when she's around 27, not long after her fourth marriage when her husband moves her and her three kids out to the suburbs where he threatens the 5 local doctors into not giving her any drugs. The ending feels hopeful considering just how awful her life was up to that point.

So, of course, I look online to find out that she was in and out of rehab multiple times after that and killed herself a couple of years after that got divorced.

Fun stuff.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

finally reading the latest book in the "Stormlight Archive" after having it on my shelf waiting for months. I had to re-read the book previous to it to job my memory as well. Really great stuff. @muzzington did you ever read more of Sanderson's stuff?

I'm planning to hit the used bookstore this week so I better clear some storage space in my trunk...and backseats...and passenger seat.

 

[tekcop]

I read The Gunslinger. I didn't like it.

Currently reading Walden. Been feeling a lot more misanthropic lately, so it's great. Not sure if that's a good thing though.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Currently been working my way through Wild Minds by Reid Mitenbuler, which is a great coverage of the earlier history of animation beyond just Walt Disney.

Still a really good read. The only knock I'd probably have is that it covers so much that it feels like it jumps around at times and that's partly why I'm still working my way through it.

 

[muzzington]

finally reading the latest book in the "Stormlight Archive" after having it on my shelf waiting for months. I had to re-read the book previous to it to job my memory as well. Really great stuff. @muzzington did you ever read more of Sanderson's stuff?

I'm planning to hit the used bookstore this week so I better clear some storage space in my trunk...and backseats...and passenger seat.

Oddly I checked out more of his personal YouTube videos than I have his books. I've also taken a break from audiobooks though, might be a sign I should start reading again.

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

First third of the year stats:
70 books (198 total last year)
280 page avg (301 avg last year)

2/3rds of the year down now so my total is now at

160 books (198 total last year)
283 page avg (301 avg last year)

 

[cobainwasmurdered]

I just bought these the other day

The Traitor Baru Cormorant by Seth Dickinson https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/23444482-the-traitor-baru-cormorant

I read this one already and it was excellent.

The Hundred Thousand Kingdoms Omnibus by NK Jemsin https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/21481566-the-inheritance-trilogy

The Emperor's Blades by Brian Staveley https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/17910124-the-emperor-s-blades

Age of Assassins, by RJ Barker https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/33296298-age-of-assassins

I think there might have been another one but I don't have them next to me.

 

[Lazgistics Supervisor]

Haven't read anything, but I did just find out that a dude I went to high school with is a writer for both Mad Cave Studios, Source Point Press, and Charon Comics.

 

[HarleyQuinn]

Picked up the following at B&N as they're having a 25% off (almost) everything moving sale.

Guts & Genius: The Story of Three Unlikely Coaches Who Came to Dominate the NFL in the 80's by Bob Glauber
MAUS Now - Selected Writing edited by Hillary Chute because I'm still a sucker for literary analysis of topics like this even well out of HS/College.
Sellout: The Major-Label Feeding Frenzy That Swept Punk, Emo and Hardcore 1994-2007 by Dan Ozzi
The Come Up: An Oral History of the Rise of Hip-Hop by Jonathan Abrams because I'm an absolute sucker for these oral histories that cover entire genres/periods of time in music.