Rate the last book you read

[bbgun]

http://img40.*************/img40/3067/cincodetina.jpg

10/10

a real page-turner

 

[Maikeru-sama]

Royal Assassin

7/10

 

[Vintage]

Interesting read, as it dives into the complicated mess that is the ongoing struggle between the modernity forces and the conservative, Salafi religious establishment.

It also touches on the Saudi side of counterterrorism and their role in it.

And I think that's about as far as I can go without making it too political.

 

[SaltwaterServr]

McCarthy is a brilliant writer, very powerful. The last paragraph of the novel has stuck in my head, since the first time I read it.

Possible spoiler - last lines of the book to follow, doesn't give anything away in regards to the story



It reminds me of the scene in The Wrestler, where Randy screws up one too many times and he's on the floor with his daughter and she tells him that sometimes things that are broken just can't be fixed. That's a pretty powerful concept, the idea that our lives have certain event horizons or tipping points, from which there's no coming back. Sometimes an action really does have permanent, meaningful consequences.

McCarthy's other stuff is all top notch as well, I especially enjoyed Blood Meridian.

The paragraph you quoted I've read at least twice in the books I'm reading on how to become a (better) writer. Great imagery that really takes you to a place that isn't too heavy on description to overload the reader, slows down the reader for impact in more than one way, and puts a final image in the novel.

It was contrasted directly with the ending of The Interlopers which is an exercise of going the precise opposite direction.

 

[ethiostar]

I finished reading 'A Storm of Swords' last night. I think this one is also slightly better than the last. I'm just amazed how much some people can write, great story telling, wow. Most of the characters are complex and flawed, even the good ones, and very enjoyable to see their development throughout the story.

I will start 'A Feast of Crows' sometime today or tonight. Although based on the reviews it will be a bit of a disappointment compared with the three that came before it.

BTW, i don't know if this has been discussed already but HBO is planning on doing a TV series based on these books, they have agreed on 10 episodes so far. The plan is to start airing in 2011. Based on some stuff i've read on line, they've already shot the pilot (if not more) in Ireland and Morocco and they are currently in post production.

Here are the actors who are cast to play the characters, and i think they did a great job, actually spot on IMO.

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or

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I can't wait!!!

 

[Pukindog]

Liberal Fascism: The Secret History of the American Left, From Mussolini to the Politics of Meaning by Jonah Goldberg.

Ever wanted to know what they didn't teach you in school about history? Here it is. Book is well written and backed up by facts that will make your head spin. Witty and enlightening. And to see how good this book is just look at some of the scathing reviews the "Progressives" gave it (of which most probably didn't read it). Seems this tome has stabbed a nerve the "Progressives" don't want revealed: the TRUTH.

10 out of 10

Waiting in the wings: House of Leaves by Mark Z. Danielewski

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Stein on Writing by Sol Stein.

By far, the best book I've read on writing to date. It has tips for writers of nonfiction as well as fiction. Its a long read, only because I felt the continual need to add highlights, underlines, and to run back to Word for note sessions after something he wrote inspired a thought for my personal novel.

Stein isn't your run of the mill author/editor. He's pretty dang condescending and has little use for commercial best sellers. For example on page 6 he states that he advises his students to read John Grisham's The Firm to examine samples of how a writer produces what he later calls "hack work" insofar that there are words and phrases used that make no sense at all.

He pulls direct examples from The Firm later in his book, devotes pages 249-250 to sliding a rough bamboo skewer through the flesh of Grisham's work, and to Stein's credit the excerpts are indeed laughable.

One quote he has is from a conversation where Mitch slings barbeque sauce into his eyebrows from a cooked rip he tears apart. Mitch's wife Abby doesn't notice. What she says is:

"We just moved in this morning."

Mitch knows this so he replies,

"I know."

:laugh2:

There are a dozen more quotes in the book that show how a great piece of commercial literature and a blockbuster movie really was very poorly written with little attention to detail by the author.

Stein is obtuse in his disdain. No doubt about it. However, it made me open my eyes to further developing the writing of any book to grander aspirations.

The chapter on novel titles is funny as he relates anecdotes of several well known pieces of literature. Hurrah for the Red, White, and Blue was later retitled, The Great Gatsby. A work originally titled Twilight has no mentions of sparkling vampires and now resides in libraries across the world under the more familiar name of The Sound and The Fury.

The chapter on dialogue was hands down better than the entire book I started reading on dialogue that I reviewed on another page of this thread.

Great book for an aspiring writer.

 

[HoleInTheRoof]

I picked up Boys Will Be Boys from Jeff Pearlman from the library on Saturday and I'm about half way through.

http://********.com/assets/images/********/2008/09/boyswillbeboys.jpg

I'm really enjoying it. I've read Skip Baylesses "The Boys" about the 1992 Cowboys twice, but this book is better, IMO.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I'm a big fan of the Warcraft series of books. (No I don't play WoW, though I've been a big fan of the original Warcraft non-MMORPG games)

Arthas: Rise of the Lich King ended up being a serviceable book, though I must say it is easily the last Warcraft book I would read twice.

My issue with the book is how Arthas was changing early in the book. It gave no rhyme or reason for it nor did it ever do so.

Slight spoiler coming, but nothing that would ruin the reading experience.

He is "Good" doing "Bad" things cause he thinks she has too when everyone is telling him it's wrong. Then he obtains Frostmourne (a demon sword) which obvisouly converts him into the Lich King. (read Evil)

The fact that he was trying so hard to be good and doing bad things just wasn't believeable at all. Once the book gets past that (he obtains Frostmourne) you forget about that part and the book vastly improves.

I give Arthas: Rise of the Lich King 3 out of 5 stars.

The book was written by Christie Golden. I believe she used to primary write Vampire books. (don't really read those) This is her third Warcraft book. The other two being Rise of the Horde and Lord of the Clans. Both I very much enjoyed.

 

[Bob Sacamano]

Do any of you read factual, good books?

 

[SaltwaterServr]

Do any of you read factual, good books?

Stones into Schools. Yes.
One Bullet Away. Yes.
Three Cups of Tea. Yes.
I, Robot. (not to be confused with iRobot). Yes?
Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep. Uh, no.

Amelia Earhart's Shoes, currently reading.
The Castro Obsession, currently reading.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Do any of you read factual, good books?

Sure, I have reviews of George Washington and Ben Franklin biographies in this thread. I think I put a Crime and Punishment review also. (that might have been before this thread was started) Though that isn't a factual book, it was a very enlightening read.

 

[ZeroClub]

I just completed a transatlantic to-and-fro and read several trash novels along the way.

One of them was John Sanford's The Empress File, which was published in 1991. It was a decent read, but it was also pretty funny because the plot line involved some state-of-the-art high-tech computer hacking with 386 computers, modest baud rate dial up modems, and some sort of UNIX chatting. My how technology has changed!

 

[Maikeru-sama]

Assassin's Quest
7/10

It was 'meh'. Should have explained more things but overall a decent end to a trilogy.

 

[Rynie]

I just read Confederacy of Dunces not too long ago. VERY GOOD 10/10

Also, Hello Vodka, it's me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler was pretty funny. I love her!

I am currently reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Good so far.

 

[ethiostar]

I just read Confederacy of Dunces not too long ago. VERY GOOD 10/10

Also, Hello Vodka, it's me Chelsea by Chelsea Handler was pretty funny. I love her!

I am currently reading In Cold Blood by Truman Capote. Good so far.

Excellent book, definitely in the top 3 or 5 of my favorite books.

 

[ethiostar]

Finished reading 'A Feast for Crows' yesterday.

After reading the reviews for this book, i was nervous that it wasn't going to be any good and expected a big letdown after enjoying the first three books in the series. However, i liked it more than than i expected. I was a bit sad that there weren't chapters on some of my favorite characters but at the same time i was glad for the additional and new POVs because it allowed me to get a better idea of whats going on in the rest of the realm. I have to admit that the addition of so many characters made it extremely hard for me to keep track of who was who but i would imagine it will get easier going forward. Needless to say i look forward to the next book, whenever it comes out.

A Feast For Crows came out in 2005 and at the end of the book the author said that he has already written pages and pages and chapter and chapters on the characters that he omitted in A Feast For Crows. I'm not sure what is taking so long for the next book.

 

[ethiostar]

'The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo' by Stieg Larsson

Mystery, suspense, drama. The book has received a lot of good to excellent reviews internationally so i looked forward to reading it. Overall, the plot development (which takes place in Sweden) was good and at least one of the two main characters is engaging and intriguing. It was a decent read but the villains came across as not all too bright and in the end their demise was somewhat anti-climactic and not very satisfying. I thought it was a decent read but the book is a bit overrated overall.

I got to the end of the book and almost blew a gasket because of the ending, which left many things unexplained, especially about the back story of the most interesting character in the book. And then i found out that this book is actually only the first book of a trilogy. :

The next book 'The Girl Who Played with Fire' is actually supposed to better.

 

[CanuckCowboysFan]

anyone have any good non fiction books?

 

[Chief]

anyone have any good non fiction books?

Yep....