What are you reading right now?

The Magic of Recluse by L.E. Modesitt.
I was sceptical of this book but it's quickly turning into one of the Fantasy stories I enjoy the most.
More enjoyable than what I experienced of Raymond Feist.

Mod wrote:The Magic of Recluse by L.E. Modesitt.
I was sceptical of this book but it's quickly turning into one of the Fantasy stories I enjoy the most.
More enjoyable than what I experienced of Raymond Feist.

Seriously? I should read it too then because I do enjoy Feist an awful lot so this should be even better then.

Joey90 wrote:

Mod wrote:The Magic of Recluse by L.E. Modesitt.
I was sceptical of this book but it's quickly turning into one of the Fantasy stories I enjoy the most.
More enjoyable than what I experienced of Raymond Feist.

Seriously? I should read it too then because I do enjoy Feist an awful lot so this should be even better then.

I think there were some aspects of Feist's writing style and possibly tropes of his that gained wider popularity that made A Darkness at Sethanon decidedly weaker than Silverthorn or Magician which also ended up highlighting to me aspects of his style that I find tiring. I think one problem with Feist is that so many of his characters thought alike and were damn near prescient if it was needed to get the plot ball rolling.
I enjoyed the books but honestly after cutting my teeth on viewpoint characters that are actually limited by their own personalities and fallibilities "The Luminaries by Eleanor Catton" I'm not satisfied with older styles of journey writing where main characters are essentially vehicles with slightly different paint jobs and side characters are one note plot movers.

Mod wrote:The Magic of Recluse by L.E. Modesitt.
I was sceptical of this book but it's quickly turning into one of the Fantasy stories I enjoy the most.
More enjoyable than what I experienced of Raymond Feist.

I read The Magic of Recluse years ago, and I quite enjoyed it. Good choice. I was skeptical about it at first, like you, too, but it turned out to be rather good, actually. Have you read other books by Modesitt? Are they as good?

I'm reading P.G.Wodehouse's Jeeves stories, "Right Ho, Jeeves" at the moment. I loved the TV series as a kid though I can't say I remember it very well, I was very young. But now I found a collection of them at the library. Reading them together with the astronomy and astrobiology for dummies book I'm reading makes an enjoyable mix.

Lucas_HG wrote:

Mod wrote:The Magic of Recluse by L.E. Modesitt.
I was sceptical of this book but it's quickly turning into one of the Fantasy stories I enjoy the most.
More enjoyable than what I experienced of Raymond Feist.

I read The Magic of Recluse years ago, and I quite enjoyed it. Good choice. I was skeptical about it at first, like you, too, but it turned out to be rather good, actually. Have you read other books by Modesitt? Are they as good?

I'm reading P.G.Wodehouse's Jeeves stories, "Right Ho, Jeeves" at the moment. I loved the TV series as a kid though I can't say I remember it very well, I was very young. But now I found a collection of them at the library. Reading them together with the astronomy and astrobiology for dummies book I'm reading makes an enjoyable mix.

I haven't read any more from him/her? My bf's grandmother has a shit tonne of fantasy and sci fi. Of that author I could only find fantasy or soft science fiction.

Oh Wodehouse! I was eyeing him up last library trip. Can't wait to try him out.

Mod wrote:I haven't read any more from him/her? My bf's grandmother has a shit tonne of fantasy and sci fi. Of that author I could only find fantasy or soft science fiction.

Oh Wodehouse! I was eyeing him up last library trip. Can't wait to try him out.

I recall trying to find other Recluse novels after reading The Magic of Recluse, but I couldn't find any, and then I guess I forgot. Maybe I'll look into it again. It would be interesting to see if his other books are as good. (I believe I've seen a picture of the author, and if it really was him then yeah, it's a him, haha.)

Wodehouse is great, I'm having so much fun with the Jeeves and Wooster stories. I warmly recommend him!

Just finished The Hired Man by Aminatta Forna. I highly recommend it. It reminds me slightly of Kazuo Ishiguro's The Remains of the Day, even though the setting is completely different.

I am currently rereading A Song of Ice and Fire, for the hell of it

Today I started reading Investigating Modern Art. I was so excited about it before I opened it, it's published by Yale University Press so I thought it would be good, even though it's kind of old (1996). So today I opened it and what a disappointment. It's like modern art for dummies, explaining how modern art can seem 'difficult' to some, and how to deal with it. Nothing a professional artist would bother to read. This is what I get for picking a book without taking a good look at it first. I hope my next try (a book about the origin of avant-garde) will be better, it claims to be a university text book so I'm tentatively hopeful.

Lucas_HG wrote:I hope my next try (a book about the origin of avant-garde) will be better, it claims to be a university text book so I'm tentatively hopeful.

I wouldn't get my hopes up. It's the university books that are usually the most disappointing and pretentious. Authors take into account that not everybody studying a subject is also acquainted with it. And a lot of those books are written to boost the authors' credentials and/or bank balance (the authors are usually professors).

I was interested in some light reading so I picked up Bob Smith's Selfish and Perverse. The first-person narrator doesn't seem particularly likeable at first, but I suppose you get used to it.

asnicolas wrote:I wouldn't get my hopes up. It's the university books that are usually the most disappointing and pretentious. Authors take into account that not everybody studying a subject is also acquainted with it. And a lot of those books are written to boost the authors' credentials and/or bank balance (the authors are usually professors).

So true. I'm not even sure why I bother with the academic approach instead of simply making my art. I don't need the theory to paint. But I regularly find myself browsing the library's art book shelves in hopes of finding something intellectually stimulating. And I am regularly disappointed...

Lucas_HG wrote:I recall trying to find other Recluse novels after reading The Magic of Recluse, but I couldn't find any, and then I guess I forgot.

Funny. I mean maybe it's easier because my goto library is in the CBD of the capital city but the scifi section there had like 20 of his books easy.

As for art you probably want either a biography or a coffee table book dealing with mostly images.
One art book that caught my eye recently was a book on videogame aesthetics; I suppose I find the application of art and design more interesting than an explanatory book on art movements. If you're still looking at inspiration try finding an art themed podcast I find conversations by artists less stuffy than books.

Lucas_HG wrote:

asnicolas wrote:I wouldn't get my hopes up. It's the university books that are usually the most disappointing and pretentious. Authors take into account that not everybody studying a subject is also acquainted with it. And a lot of those books are written to boost the authors' credentials and/or bank balance (the authors are usually professors).

So true. I'm not even sure why I bother with the academic approach instead of simply making my art. I don't need the theory to paint. But I regularly find myself browsing the library's art book shelves in hopes of finding something intellectually stimulating. And I am regularly disappointed...

Keep looking then. And you might want to give that book you gave up on another try. Maybe you just weren't in the right mood at the time or it might get more interesting as you read on.

Mod wrote:Funny. I mean maybe it's easier because my goto library is in the CBD of the capital city but the scifi section there had like 20 of his books easy.

As for art you probably want either a biography or a coffee table book dealing with mostly images.
One art book that caught my eye recently was a book on videogame aesthetics; I suppose I find the application of art and design more interesting than an explanatory book on art movements. If you're still looking at inspiration try finding an art themed podcast I find conversations by artists less stuffy than books.

Actually, what I want is something intellectually challenging. I read a lot so to balance the easy stuff I need books that are more demanding to read. So I'm giving the stuffy books a try. I suppose part of the problem is that I already know so much about art history, movements, and theory that finding something intellectually stimulating is not so easy. Thanks for the podcast idea though, it sounds interesting. I'll give it a try, assuming my crappy laptop can handle a podcast. It really is that crappy!...

And as for Modesitt -- haha, well, I assume I wasn't trying very hard! I recall looking at the fantasy shelf and not finding any books by him, but then I must have found some other shiny object to distract me, and I only remembered him again now that you mentioned him. *Blush* I tend to be a tad bit lively and easily distracted. So, really, not so strange, just me being me.

asnicolas wrote:Keep looking then. And you might want to give that book you gave up on another try. Maybe you just weren't in the right mood at the time or it might get more interesting as you read on.

Yes, I expect I will at least leaf it through and see if I can find interesting articles. I noticed that there's an article on surrealism, I may give that one a try. Especially now that I'm making a surreal painting. I'm also planning to read Leonardo's Notebooks. Leonardo da Vinci is one of my greatest idols, so that should be interesting.

Well, it all depends on what aspects you're interested in. For example, quite a lot was written about Surrealism in connection with Freud and books dealing with the use of colours can be found practically for every art movement. I often find interesting books on Wikipedia. I look up a topic that interests me and then scroll down to References.
I suppose you're familiar with http://www.arthistoryunstuffed.com? The articles might not be as comprehensive as books but the website has podcasts.

asnicolas wrote:Well, it all depends on what aspects you're interested in. For example, quite a lot was written about Surrealism in connection with Freud and books dealing with the use of colours can be found practically for every art movement. I often find interesting books on Wikipedia. I look up a topic that interests me and then scroll down to References.
I suppose you're familiar with http://www.arthistoryunstuffed.com? The articles might not be as comprehensive as books but the website has podcasts.

Oh! Freud! How did I never think of him myself? Yes, Freud was very important for the surrealists. I'm definitely going to take a look at him and his writings. Especially because the painting I'm working on is based on a dream. Freud should be intellectually stimulating enough. Excellent! And no, I wasn't familiar with the site. I'm browsing it right now, it looks very interesting. Thanks for the link!

Went to the library today and took out The Interpretation of Dreams by Freud and A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking. Excited!

Also, I'm reading Leonardo's Notebooks now. And since I love multi-tasking I also started The Hollowing by Robert Holdstock. Holdstock is one of my favourite authors. The Mythago Wood is an amazing book, I love it. I keep rereading it over and over again.

Been on a fiction binge (that's why I've been absent for the past, what, year? ). Just finished Herman Hess's "The Glass Bead Game" (or "Magister Ludi"). Really interesting ideas on... well... ideas.

The major debate in the novel seems to be whether or not the history and development of thought can be divorced from history proper. Can academics live fully in their beautiful, pure, and ordered "ivory tower" represented in the book, or do they lack something fundamental by rejecting the outside world of politics, economics, religion and war as ugly, tainted and chaotic? Is the completive "world of the mind"; music, mathematics, physics and philosophy, more pure and more genuine than the active "mundane world"? Those are some main themes, and I won't spoil the story. Not much in the way of action, and mostly (very long) philosophical discussion, but particularly if you study humanities at university or college, this book may resonate with you.

Lucas_HG wrote:Went to the library today and took out... A Briefer History of Time by Stephen Hawking. Excited!

There's a "Briefer History"? I never knew he'd re-written it. I should probably try reading this. I won't understand it, but an admirable attempt doomed to failure is better than no attempt at all. Probably.

Magic J wrote:Been on a fiction binge (that's why I've been absent for the past, what, year? ). Just finished Herman Hess's "The Glass Bead Game" (or "Magister Ludi"). Really interesting ideas on... well... ideas.

The major debate in the novel seems to be whether or not the history and development of thought can be divorced from history proper. Can academics live fully in their beautiful, pure, and ordered "ivory tower" represented in the book, or do they lack something fundamental by rejecting the outside world of politics, economics, religion and war as ugly, tainted and chaotic? Is the completive "world of the mind"; music, mathematics, physics and philosophy, more pure and more genuine than the active "mundane world"? Those are some main themes, and I won't spoil the story. Not much in the way of action, and mostly (very long) philosophical discussion, but particularly if you study humanities at university or college, this book may resonate with you.

Oh! This sounds interesting. I've been trying to read Steppenwolf, but it seems that I simply cannot. Maybe if I had read it as a teenager, but now it just makes me want to scream... I'm kind of ashamed to admit it! Maybe I should try The Glass Bead Game instead; it certainly sounds like something I'd be more interested in. The ivory tower/writing and creating history/the concepts of time and history, and what is real, etc. is something I have spent quite a bit of time thinking about and discussing. You might even call it one of my pet peeves!

Magic J wrote:There's a "Briefer History"? I never knew he'd re-written it. I should probably try reading this. I won't understand it, but an admirable attempt doomed to failure is better than no attempt at all. Probably.

Yes, there is a Briefer History! I was so excited when I found the book! I can't wait to get to it, but I have so many books I'm reading at the moment that I probably should wait a little so I can fully concentrate on it.

Lucas_HG wrote:Oh! This sounds interesting. I've been trying to read Steppenwolf, but it seems that I simply cannot. Maybe if I had read it as a teenager, but now it just makes me want to scream.

I couldn't get through it either.