What are you reading right now?

The Stand by Stephen King

I've picked up Alastair Reynolds' The Chasm because my friend Rory things it offers some neat concepts on things I'm interested in but Oh dear is the prose a slog.
You know you're in the bad end of the scifi when your author is scraping for names like the 'Epsilon Eridani System'.
Eh the imagination is there but the prose is so ugly :c

Green Mars by Kim Stanley Robinson.

Mr.Monkey wrote:I've picked up Alastair Reynolds' The Chasm because my friend Rory things it offers some neat concepts on things I'm interested in but Oh dear is the prose a slog.
You know you're in the bad end of the scifi when your author is scraping for names like the 'Epsilon Eridani System'.
Eh the imagination is there but the prose is so ugly :c

The Chasm? Do you mean Chasm City?

Also, I do have to say that his prose has markedly improved since. His novels House of Suns or The Prefect, for example, or his Zima Blue and Other Stories collection are both much more readable.

Simon wrote:

Mr.Monkey wrote:I've picked up Alastair Reynolds' The Chasm because my friend Rory thinks it offers some neat concepts on things I'm interested in but Oh dear is the prose a slog.
You know you're in the bad end of the scifi when your author is scraping for names like the 'Epsilon Eridani System'.
Eh the imagination is there but the prose is so ugly :c

The Chasm? Do you mean Chasm City?

Also, I do have to say that his prose has markedly improved since. His novels House of Suns or The Prefect, for example, or his Zima Blue and Other Stories collection are both much more readable.

Yes it is Chasm city. I'm liking a lot of his weird ideas but I find half of his jargon to just be there to sound 'future-y' and sometimes the main character feels a bit too all knowing and smug. Then again I'm not that far into it, he hasn't even boarded a spaceship yet, he's still trying to kill some dude with a special pistol so maybe it's just part of his arc.
I'll add those to the list.

Simon, you've read a lot of sci fi. Have you read Robinson's Mars trilogy? It's some of most captivating and thought-provoking science fiction I've read in years, and those are strong words coming from me.

I've only read Green Mars, though I didn't think it enormously captivating or thought-provoking, at least compared to other contemporary science fiction. I tried to read Red Mars in elementary school but was bored by it and, strangely, haven't revisited it since. I should try it again, especially since I generally adore Robinson. His recent 2312 was rather excellent. Perhaps Green Mars is the weakest of the set.

Right. Robinson binge time.

Simon wrote:I've only read Green Mars, though I didn't think it enormously captivating or thought-provoking, at least compared to other contemporary science fiction. I tried to read Red Mars in elementary school but was bored by it and, strangely, haven't revisited it since. I should try it again, especially since I generally adore Robinson. His recent 2312 was rather excellent. Perhaps Green Mars is the weakest of the set.

Right. Robinson binge time.

If you were actually reading Green Mars I'm not surprised it didn't hook you. It's the second in the series and would be a bit confusing to start there; Red Mars is the first.

It's not for everyone. The series' combination of hard technological detail, intrapersonal relationships, and incredibly in depth description of future social, political, and economic systems continues to blow me away. I'm halfway through the third and final. I recommended it to a friend who couldn't get into it at all. Regardless, I'm thrilled to have discovered this series.

The Silver Linings Playbook by Matthew Quick

I fell in love with the film
started reading the book on the train and withing half an hour was crying freely in the middle of a packed carriage. So much insight and detail. Brilliantly observed.
The writing style is kindof clunky and amateurish but its in a first person present tense so it's more of a character book than a literary masterpiece, from a constructive point of view.

Worth a read though for sure

I've picked up The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton and it is every bit worth the hype around it.
For those that don't know, zodiac based occult murder mystery set in 19thC goldrush New Zealand.

The Dog Barks When the Phone Rings: An Engineer's Guide to Solving Problems

It's a funny book and it made me laugh a few times. And I love the title. It is basically a guide on problem solving and a collection of short and funny stories on the same topic.

Henri, Le Chat Noir; The existential musings of an angst filled cat.

Double fisting




and

Catching up on Model Engineer/Machine Shop related articles:
http://www.neme-s.org/nemes%20gazette_files/g212.pdf

A study in Scarlet o.o

I'm reading The Illustrated Man by Ray Bradbury.



Its a series of short stories but the whole idea of it is a man with a strange tattoos on him that move and tell the future. Each story is one of the tattoos on the man. I enjoy it quite a bit as I love Ray Bradbury.

Received a copy of Robert Shea and Robert Anton Wilson's "Illuminatus!" trilogy. It's looking pretty mental from the first four pages. I'm told that it makes much more sense after dropping acid, but I'll think I'll have a sober run-through first.

As a side note, if I get paranoid and start babbling about Illuminati assassins and reptilian overlords, please ignore.

Invitation to a Beheading by Vladimir Nabakov. It's about a guy that was sentenced to death for some nonsensical crime. He's never told when he's going to be executed. The guards do a lot to conceal his execution date. The book goes over a lot of what the main character is thinking before he dies and his interactions with people in the prison along with his shitty family that comes to visit. It's a good book though, I think I'm probably going to read Nabokov's Bend Sinister after this one.

Welp, that sounds like such an odd storyline. I don't often read books that are not well-known because I never know what to pick, but I might give that one a try.