quote:Originally posted by twinky: I finished The Judging Eye. I think Bakker has surpassed every other fantasist I've read, from Tolkein to Cook. Outstanding.
But read The Prince of Nothing first.
Now I'm digging into the Malazan books by Erikson and Esslemont, who IIRC are both anthropologists. The writing is nothing special, but the scope, detail, and internal consistency of the setting are astonishing.
I thought the homage to Moria in the Judging Eye was great. I was a bit taken aback that gods are taking an active role.
Posts: 644 | Registered: Sep 2008
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Mr. Y: I am gently nudging this thread back to the first page, so that those who are interested can complete their lists (if memory allows).
I'm glad that I've been updating my list as I've gone along all year. If I hadn't been, there's no way I'd be able to recall what I'd read this year as opposed to the year before, or even the year before that. In fact, looking back at my list there are a number of books that, were it not for the list, I'd have sworn that I'd read in '08.
quote:Originally posted by twinky: I finished The Judging Eye. I think Bakker has surpassed every other fantasist I've read, from Tolkein to Cook. Outstanding.
Twinky, at what point did you start feeling this way? I'm about halfway through The Thousandfold Thought right now, and while I'm enjoying the series immensely, it hasn't yet dethroned ASoIF as my favorite fantasy (though if book 5 is of the quality of A Feast for Crows, Martin will have diluted the quality of the series enough to drop it back down amongst its would-be peers).
I have three quibbles about the story, actually. They haven't prevented me from enjoying the series, and one of them can probably be discounted, but I'd love to talk to you about them nonetheless. Remind me the next time we hang out, if I don't remember to post them on sake before then (I'd post them here if Hatrack had spoiler tags, but it doesn't, so I'm reluctant to).
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
quote:Originally posted by Kwea: I have already read about 14 books....I like this idea, so I'll post them when I can. Other than textbooks, of course.
Of course I didn't bother, and since I read a couple of hundred at least, including re-reads, it's a lost cause at this point.
I think I'll start doing this next year though.
Posts: 15082 | Registered: Jul 2001
| IP: Logged |
How was This is Your Brain on Music? I saw it in second-hand shop a while ago, but didn't take it with me. At the time I just didn't have enough cash on me. Of course the next I time I came around (three days later), it was gone. The topic came across as something I would want to read. But I also saw that there was some science involved. Is it understandable to someone who knows next to nothing about science?
Noemon: I also tried to keep my list in this thread up to date. I had set myself the goal of reading 36 books this year (hadn't come close to that in recent years). As you can see, I succeeded and allowed myself the luxury of re-reading one of my favorites. For next year my goal will be to read some books that are bit more intellectually stimulating than the ones on this list.
Posts: 1100 | Registered: Apr 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
Yeah, I've definitely had years when I read more non-fiction than I did in 2009.
What did you think of the Diaz book? I started that one this year at my girlfriend's urging, and while I could tell that it was a book that I would ordinarily enjoy, I couldn't quite get into it.
Posts: 16059 | Registered: Aug 2000
| IP: Logged |
posted
Mr. Y, This is Your Brain on Music was an absolutely fantastic read. I recommend it without any reservations. There certainly is a good amount of science in it, but nothing too heavy, and the author does a great job of making it all accessible. It was one of my favorite books from this past year.
Posts: 8741 | Registered: Apr 2001
| IP: Logged |
posted
I agree. I read This is Your Brain on Music this year, and found it to be fascinating. The writer has a gift for taking fairly sophisticated data and translating into ideas and words regular people can understand.
posted
Noemon, I had Oscar Wao lying around the house for a couple of months before I felt up to reading it. While the blurb promised lots of good things, I was kind of anxious about it. It really dislike starting to read a book and then having to put it away because you are struggling to make it through (though it did happen once or twice this year). Having said that, when I did read about Oscar's tribulations, I found it far less daunting then I expected it to be. Oscar's own story has some similarities with my own life, making it very easy to feel for the character. The chapters dealing with his mother's life and those about the grandfather were also quite enjoyable. Even though the book contains a fair amount of history with regard to the Dominican Republic, the footnotes weren't annoying to me. In fact, they made me take out my Encyclopedia of World History to look up a few things. The use of Spanish frases in the book was somewhat more irritating, but that's only because I know only 6 words in Spanish. All in all I found it to be a very good book, and I will definitely read it again in the future.
Strider, Thanks for the recommendation. The next time I see it on the shelves somewhere, I shall definitely pick up a copy.
Posts: 1100 | Registered: Apr 2008
| IP: Logged |
posted
I've just started trying to read a book a week, but I'm running into the problem of what book! I just finished Moby Dick, which was the last one on my list of books I really wanted to read. Maybe In Cold Blood, but I'm going to hold off a bit on that one. Anyways, I need more books! Problem is that everyone's reccomendation is basically books they liked (makes sense, right?) but even if I like that person and we have similar interests I've found little correlation between them liking it and me liking it.
Now on Netflix I've rated many hundreds of movies and I've found that they're rating of movies I haven't seen is very accurate (they're almost always within a half star of what I would put, which is the best they can get) at this point. Is there place that does that with books?
posted
All this info (books I read in 2009 and what I think of them) for me is on Goodreads. Join and friend me! I'm Tatiana.
Posts: 6246 | Registered: Aug 2004
| IP: Logged |
Printer-friendly view of this topic
![[Big Grin]](biggrin.gif)
![[Smile]](smile.gif)
