The Book Thread Book • Page 25

Tranny is great. Especially if you're an AM! fan

 

Just finished today! It was a way easier read than I expected. I'm actually not much of a fan of the band but thought it was super good and interesting. I definitely learned some things.

 

Finishing up my second read through of The Dark Tower series in time for the film.

It really irks me when people say Wizard & Glass is their favorite. What an insult to Eddie, Jake, Susannah and - especially and most importantly - Oy, the best character in the series.

 

That really just shows how fucking good Wizard & Glass is.

 

Mmm. I thought W&G sucked. it was one where i kept saying, "okay, King, get to the fucking point already" and really saw how bloated and overextended it was / he can be. the main story wasn't interesting to me, we knew Roland would get out alive (duh) and that something bad would happen to Susannah. and in typical King fashion the main showdown is like 5 pages of a 800 page book. he can be frustrating at times, but when i'm invested it doesn't induce so much eye-rolling. but not with W&G for me haha.

i honestly don't know how King wasn't tracked down and terrorized by fans after the six years between this and Waste Lands. especially after the cliffhanger of Waste Lands... to wait six years and get a backstory? eesh. he's lucky the internet didn't exist back then

 

decided to make a big time summer book purchase because why the fuck not right? i needed to expand my Stephen King collection so that's what i accomplished. by adding 39 more of his works to my shelf. my credit card certainly hates me but that's how our relationship has always been.

 

Currently reading:

Being A Dad Is Weird by Ben Falcone

and

Warlock Holmes: The Hell-Hound of The Baskervilles

 

Just finished the third Harry Potter book. I'm reading them for the first time. I liked the first, I didn't like the second, but this one has been my favorite thus far. The writing, character development, etc. It all seemed better in this one than the previous two.

Also recently finished Never Let Me Go by Kazuo Ishiguro. Such a heartbreaking book.

 

Oh boy, you're in for a treat. It only gets better!

 

200 pages left of War and Peace. It's been quite a ride.

 

Yeah, as some one who read the series last year for the first time at 26, the first three books are enjoyable, but Goblet of Fire onwards things step up in a huge way. I had originally planned to take a break from the series at the end of the 4th book, but got to the end and literally immediately started reading book 5.

 

i agree. it certainly helps that GoF broke the mould for how the first 50-75 pages go. that was a big help and all the additions made it a great, refreshing read - which the series seriously needed at that time. it's been a long time since i've read or thought about the series a lot but i think Order of the Phoenix is my favorite, but 4-7 were all real good.

 

This is making me want to re-read them all. I don't think I have since the 7th came out.

Also desperate to re-read LOTR this year as well.

 

From 4 on is when Rowling really became a great writer imo

 

I listened to all of the books last year and the narrator was really incredible. I still want to listen to Stephen Fry's version but that's pretty impossible to find from what I can tell

 

Re-read LOTR in January. HP is on my to re-read list in the next year or so. Goblet of Fire is far and away my favorite book of the seven, but I agree that it's where she transitioned into all-time great.

 

My brother had all the Stephen Fry versions on tape. We used to listen to them in the background as we used to play Football Manager.

 

Anyone read Lincoln in the Bardo? I've been hearing good things.

 

I don't have access to the thread anymore but I just picked up the book Borne by Jeff Vandermeer which is an apocalyptic science fiction novel. I think you would like it once you get through the others you have stacked up. @Jason Tate

 

Got Dean Koontz new book from the library. Looking forward to reading it.

Never read any of his stuff before

 

(he's not very good)

 

Hah, I like James Patterson so...

What's wrong with him? Just writing style very simple or something?

 

Yeah, he's also a strictly pg13 horror writer, which I have no time for. He tries way too hard to describe pointless things, sort of like when you first discover the thesaurus as a kid and your school papers start getting silly, ha. I've heard him described as the K-mart Stephen King and I liked that. There's such great horror lit out there, it's just not worth it.

Which one did you pick up? I haven't read much from him. There was one I enjoyed awhile ago. EDIT: Oh wait you said new book, my bad.

 

Hahaha that's some brutal but hilarious criticism.

I got The Silent Corner. My wife read What The Night Knows a few years ago and enjoyed it but said it was weird.

 

Well let me know how it is because his books are at least super quick reads and I wouldn't mind seeing what he's up to now.