What Else Are You Reading in 2018? Showing 1,101-1,150 of 3,893

[CBRetriever]

And The hangover was released in France as Very Bad Trip! (with the exclamation point)

[Tomas]

CBRetriever wrote: "And The hangover was released in France as Very Bad Trip! (with the exclamation point)"

In Czech Republic, it was something like "Party in Vegas" if I remember well (the sequels than changing the location in name accordingly).

[Anna]

I don't think any Finnish person can ever be present (irl or online) during a conversation about changed (movie) titles, and not mention The Shawshank Redemption. The Finnish title is (view spoiler)[Rita Hayworth - The Key to the Escape (hide spoiler)]. Only open the spoiler if you've seen the movie or don't mind having it spoiled for you.

[CBRetriever]

and also in France, Darth Vader = Dark Vador

[colleen the convivial curmudgeon]

And in France Voldemort's name is Tom Elvis...

[CBRetriever]

might I interest you in a Dark Vador burger?

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...

ETA: from one of the worst burger chains I've ever been to.

[AndrewP]

Trike wrote: "Changing Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone to Harry Potter and the Sorcerer's Stone was likewise a better choice, since saying the phrase “philosopher’s stone” would only get you blank looks here. That’s a very British term..."

I think the Religious zealots probably had something to do with that too. Philosophers Stone is a well known term in Occult circles and they didn't want kids Googling it or doing any other research.

[Trike]

AndrewP wrote: "I think the Religious zealots probably had something to do with that too. Philosophers Stone is a well known term in Occult circles and they didn't want kids Googling it or doing any other research."

I rather doubt that. In my experience most zealots are too uneducated to know anything beyond vague impressions of the Devil and Jesus.

[Trike]

Anyway, back on topic:

I just finished Jade City, which was awesome. 5 stars from me. It’s like The Godfather meets Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. So good.

My review: https://www.goodreads.com/review/show...

[Dj]

colleen the convivial curmudgeon wrote: "And in France Voldemort's name is Tom Elvis..."

Wait Voldemort is related to Elvis? Oh Man that explains a lot.

[Chris]

Spotted at Burger King.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

LMAO

[Dj]

CBRetriever wrote: "might I interest you in a Dark Vador burger?

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...

ETA: from one of the worst burger chains I've ever been to."

No, but I would be more than happy to go with the Timmy Elvis Burger.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Dj wrote: "CBRetriever wrote: "might I interest you in a Dark Vador burger?

https://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/0...

ETA: from one of the worst burger chains I've eve..."

Would that have peanut butter, bananas, and rattlesnake on the burger?

I think I might give up on Shadow Man, which is sad. We'll see how my last ditch effort goes tonight. Got a little further in Wheel of Time and it's charming in its familiarity.

[Rachel]

Philosopher stones can also refer to psilocybin aka tripping on mushroom.....

[YouKneeK]

Since my last post, I’ve read:

1. Kindred by Octavia E. Butler. I liked this a lot. It held my attention and was a fast read. It’s not always an easy read in terms of its content, not surprising given the premise. I thought it was done really well. My review.

2. The Fionavar Tapestry, a trilogy by Guy Gavriel Kay that starts with The Summer Tree. The series slowly decreased in quality for me. I really liked the first book despite a few complaints, but certain things started to get on my nerves in the subsequent books. I did still enjoy them aside from the parts that annoyed me, and I like Kay’s writing in general. I’m glad my first introduction to him wasn’t through this series, though. My reviews:
Book 1
Book 2
Book 3

Now I’m reading The Iliad. I have vague and unpleasant memories of reading this in high school, but I don’t remember anything except that it was read and that I didn’t like it. I’m not even sure what translation we read back then, but this time I chose the Lattimore translation. I just finished book 3 of 24, so I’m not very far in, but so far I’ve found it more readable than I expected. The crazy, long list of battle participants in book 2 was a little painful. I do find myself getting distracted by the rhythm and missing details that I would never have missed in prose, so I keep having to go back and re-read things when I get confused.

I’ve never been good with poetry, so I’ve been reading most of it out loud to try to get the rhythm of it. Reading out loud of course makes for a very slow pace, but I wasn't expecting this to be a fast read anyway. I’m quite confident that I’m reading it in the completely wrong rhythm, but I do seem to settle into some sort of rhythm that works for me after a few minutes into each reading session. The problem is that it’s hard to get back out of the rhythm after I stop reading. I start thinking in it, and I can’t stop myself from going back and rearranging the words in my thoughts so the rhythm fits better, then re-thinking the thoughts in the words that create the proper rhythm. It’s terribly annoying! :) I have similar issues when I read books that are written with a phonetically-spelled dialect.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Iliad was one that I preferred listening to, too! I wish you better luck than I had with it :)

which Kay would you start with?

[Trike]

Anyone else having GR hiccups?

For some reason it listed Jade City’s read date as “October 2017” even though I clicked today’s date. GR did that for at least one other book I read this year and it refuses to change.

It really screws up the sorting.

[Prophet]

Just finished The Stone Sky. Read the trilogy in one go and liked it a lot although I felt that books two and three didn't fully measure up to the first.

Now reading Under the Skin which I like. Next is Station Eleven.

My favourite book of 2018 so far was Brodeck. Jeff VanderMeer recommended it. Fantastic book (but not SF&F)

[YouKneeK]

Allison wrote: "Iliad was one that I preferred listening to, too! I wish you better luck than I had with it :)

which Kay would you start with?"

Thanks Allison! :)

As far as Kay… I’ve read two of his other books so far, Tigana and The Lions of Al-Rassan, and I really liked both of them. Lions is my favorite of the two. Somebody who’s read more of his work might have a better-informed suggestion for a starting point, though!

You seem to enjoy mythology-based stories quite a bit more than I do, so you might like The Fionavar Tapestry better than I did if you can overlook the overly-convenient solutions. These were some of his earliest published works, so the writing is less polished than the later stuff I've read.

[YouKneeK]

Prophet wrote: "Just finished The Stone Sky. Read the trilogy in one go and liked it a lot although I felt that books two and three didn't fully measure up to the first."

I just read that trilogy last month and had a similar reaction. I enjoyed all three very much, but the first was my favorite.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Trike, yes, I've had to correct several "completed reading" dates manually to keep my counts correct. Really frustrating.

Prophet, I'm glad you enjoyed The Broken Earth trilogy! I think you're right that Fifth Season was the best of the three. Can't wait to hear what you think of Station Eleven! That one was something I found a bit different, too.

Thanks Youkneek! I remember reading your review for Fionovar and thinking that the things that didn't appeal to you sounded really cool to me haha! But I do prefer to start a new author on something strong so that I can build my trust with them.

[Anna]

Trike/Allison, I think it might have something to do with this bug, which they're still trying to sort out. I haven't been following every message in that thread, and I can't remember anyone specifically mentioning past dates popping up for read dates, but there's a whole bunch of problems with read dates in general, so I feel it's likely related.

edit: It's a long thread and there's no need to read all of it, but that's where the staff will post when there's an update.

[Allison, Fairy Mod-mother]

Thanks, Anna :D

[Don]

With Guy Gavriel Kay, 3 out of 4 of his books are going to be very good, not much of a gamble picking up his books, though the Dirk Pitt fans might not enjoys Kay's love of language and descriptive abilities.

[Don]

reflects on how surprised he was about how good "Station Eleven". This was one that required the 101st rave review because the summary blurb did not excite me , wow ! what a good surprise it was. I admire when writers go into thin worn genres, and as they say in the hood "Own that $h!+" .

[Eric]

Don wrote: "With Guy Gavriel Kay, 3 out of 4 of his books are going to be very good, not much of a gamble picking up his books, though the Dirk Pitt fans might not enjoys Kay's love of language and descriptive..."

I'm more than half way through Tigana and am enjoying it. Any recommendations on where I should head next with Guy Gavriel Kay?

[Don]

if you enjoy historical fiction The "Under Heaven and Sarantine Mosaic" Books are very good light on the magic. The Fionavar Tapestry is good and is in a full fantasy setting.

[Don]

many folk consider Tigana his best

[Chris]

Don wrote: "... though the Dirk Pitt fans might not enjoys Kay's love of language and descriptive abilities."

I haven't read any Dirk Pitt books, but I will say that if the two GGK books I've read are a good sample, he tends to stick to common words. For example, a quote from Under Heaven:

Branching paths. The turning of days and seasons and years. Life offered you love sometimes, sorrow often. If you were very fortunate, true friendship. Sometimes war came.

You did what you could to shape your own peace, before you crossed over to the night and left the world behind, as all men did, to be forgotten or remembered, as time or love allowed.

So I would agree that he loves language, but it's not in the way that requires you to have a dictionary at your elbow.

[Don]

reflects about, how it was that only the late Hugh Hefner had a more pleasant selection dilemma than we who are choosing the next book to read.

[Don]

well said Chris. Dirk Pitt story's do have their place.

[CBRetriever]

Chris wrote: "So I would agree that he loves language, but it's not in the way that requires you to have a dictionary at your elbow.."

Ahhh, the benefits of having a Kindle....(press on a word and the definition pops up)

Stephen Donaldson with his The Chronicles of Thomas Covenant, the Unbeliever is one who loves showing off his vocabulary

[Eric]

Don wrote: "if you enjoy historical fiction The "Under Heaven and Sarantine Mosaic" Books are very good light on the magic. The Fionavar Tapestry is good and is in a full fantasy setting."

Thanks!

[Don]

I enjoy going to the dictionary now and then and appreciate when an unusual word is the appropriate one.

[Eric]

Don wrote: "I enjoy going to the dictionary now and then and appreciate when an unusual word is the appropriate one."

One is never to old to learn.

[Dj]

Don wrote: "well said Chris. Dirk Pitt story's do have their place."

What, those stories are all wet.

Literally.

[Eric]

I prefer Cussler's, "The Oregon Files." Love what's under that tramp freighter. :) Corsair, one of many.

[CBRetriever]

Finished Spiderlight by Adrian Tchaikovsky which was actually pretty good when I made it past the bit with the spiders at the beginning. It was funny even

“Working in a small space, Tchaikovsky gives us sympathetic characters, real moral dilemmas, and emotional depth, all shot through with a sly humor that kept me grinning throughout. If, like me, you’re a D&D fan who always wondered about the ethics of Detect Evil or what the orcs eat in Mordor, you will love this one. ― Django Wexler, author of the Shadow Campaigns series"

[Gary]

I finished reading Armada by Ernest Cline, The Heart of What Was Lost (Last King of Osten Ard Book #0.5) by Tad Williams, The Darknet (Murder by Munchausen Mysteries Book #2) by M. T. Bass, and Ricochet Joe by Dean Koontz. I am reading Head On (Lock In #2) by John Scalzi and The Eye of the World (Wheel of Time Book #1) by Robert Jordan. I plan to read Across the River and into the Trees by Ernest Hemingway next.

[Rachel]

How is Head On? Thinking of buying it this month - worth it?

[Michele]

How was The Heart of What Was Lost? I loved his original Osten Ard trilogy -- amazing world-building, great adventures, interesting characters -- but haven't read this one yet.

[Robert]

Yesterday evening I finished Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb, the first book in her "Farseer Trilogy." It was quite an interesting and engaging novel. The world was unique, as was the magic, and the story was fairly compelling. I hoping I can get to the rest of the trilogy sometime. For now, though, I have one more book that I bought over the holidays to read.

[Julia]

This morning I finished rereading the historical novel The Kingdom on the Waves by M.T. Anderson. It wasn't fun, but I'm glad I reread it.

Now I'm reading An Unkindness of Ghosts by Rivers Solomon, which is science fiction.

[CBRetriever]

Robert wrote: "Yesterday evening I finished Assassin's Apprentice by Robin Hobb, the first book in her "Farseer Trilogy." It was quite an interesting and engaging novel. The world was unique, as was ..."

there's a trilogy then another trilogy and finally a third trilogy in the series:

The Farseer Trilogy

Assassin's Apprentice (1995)
Royal Assassin (1996)
Assassin's Quest (1997)

The Tawny Man Trilogy

Fool's Errand (2001)
The Golden Fool (2002)
Fool's Fate (2003)

he Fitz and the Fool Trilogy

Fool's Assassin (2014)
Fool's Quest (2015)
Assassin's Fate (May 4, 2017)

and that does end the series about Fitz

[J.W.]

Now reading Battle Royale (I’ve forgotten how to link books). I think someone above said they thought the Hunger Games stole liberally from this and I have wanted to read it for a while. I also remember not being allowed to get it some time ago so it is also an act of rebellion!

[Rob]

Rachel wrote: "How is Head On? Thinking of buying it this month - worth it?"

If you liked the first one, I'll expect you'll like this one. I enjoyed both, although I prefer some of his other work more.

[CBRetriever]

J.w. wrote: "Now reading Battle Royale (I’ve forgotten how to link books). I think someone above said they thought the Hunger Games stole liberally from this and I have wanted to read it for a while. I also rem..."

to link a book or an author, just click on the blue add book/author text above where you type a post and input the name, click on search and then click the add button.

and to keep on topic, I'm still struggling through the last Thomas Covenant book: The Last Dark. I will be glad to finish this one

[Michele]

Just finished The Raw Shark Texts for a group read. I really need to own this book. Now reading The Hauntings of Playing God for another group read.

[Don]

How is the "Hauntings of playing god" ?