Rate the last book you read

[JohnnyHopkins]

Finished Game of Thrones and Clash of Kings. The second book had somewhat of a lull in the first third, but it was hard to put down after the halfway point. I can't wait to get the third book!

 

[ethiostar]

The Neon Rain--------James Lee Burke

This is the first book of a series centered around a New Orleans detective, Dave Robicheaux and the 1st one of the series that i've read. I have bought most of the books in the series because they were recommended to me by someone i trust. I like to read them in order so i can see the characters develop overtime.

If i haven't read a lot of reviews about the entire series and specifically the later books (which are, for the most part, very favorable), i would have changed my mind about reading any more of these books. Don't get me wrong, The Neon Rain wasn't neccessarily bad but it was not good enough to make me want to read all the books in the series.

I would give it 3-3.5/5 stars.

 

[CowboyDan]

The Neon Rain--------James Lee Burke

This is the first book of a series centered around a New Orleans detective, Dave Robicheaux and the 1st one of the series that i've read. I have bought most of the books in the series because they were recommended to me by someone i trust. I like to read them in order so i can see the characters develop overtime.

If i haven't read a lot of reviews about the entire series and specifically the later books (which are, for the most part, very favorable), i would have changed my mind about reading any more of these books. Don't get me wrong, The Neon Rain wasn't neccessarily bad but it was not good enough to make me want to read all the books in the series.

I would give it 3-3.5/5 stars.

That name alone is enough to make me not want to read it. I get hung up on reading names like that over and over throughout a book. I'll sit there and wonder about the pronunciation and lose track of what I'm reading. It's so frustrating. :

 

[ethiostar]

That name alone is enough to make me not want to read it. I get hung up on reading names like that over and over throughout a book. I'll sit there and wonder about the pronunciation and lose track of what I'm reading. It's so frustrating. :

:laugh1:

http://www.forvo.com/word/robicheaux/

Robe-e-show (but you have to say it with a French accent)

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

That name alone is enough to make me not want to read it. I get hung up on reading names like that over and over throughout a book. I'll sit there and wonder about the pronunciation and lose track of what I'm reading. It's so frustrating. :

If it ends in eaux or the like and it is cajun or from louisiana...It is pronounced O as in Oh.

If you have lived in that area for any time you will hear plenty of
Boudreaux and Thibodeaux jokes...Boo Droe and Tib a Doe

Don't let all the french/cajun stuff screw you up...they just used bunch of vowels to make it sound like the one they did not...O.:laugh1:

 

[CowboyDan]

If it ends in eaux or the like and it is cajun or from louisiana...It is pronounced O as in Oh.

If you have lived in that area for any time you will hear plenty of
Boudreaux and Thibodeaux jokes...Boo Droe and Tib a Doe

Don't let all the french/cajun stuff screw you up...they just used bunch of vowels to make it sound like the one they did not...O.:laugh1:

I know, I know, a good friend of mine is form NOLA and has a dog named Boudreaux, and says geaux Tigers, etc. But my brain still gets sidetracked by it and starts focusing on the pronunciation, and how it would sound to say it, and all that.....it's weird, but it happens. :

 

[Kevinicus]

I'm only half-way through A Storm of Swords as part of my re-reading of the A Song of Fire and Ice series in preperation for the release of A Dance with Dragons (out today folks!) and I'll already give it a 10/10. Definitely the best in the series thus far, and even at the halfway point there has been more going on then in the entirety of A Clash of Kings, and I know there are a lot more major moments left to come before the book finishes.

 

[ethiostar]

Fahrenheit 451--------------Ray Bradbury

I just reread this book over the last couple of days. The first time I read it must have been over 20 years ago and i didn't remember much beyond the general concept for the book. Once i was beyond the mid-way point of the book I started remembering how i felt about it the first time i read it, it's a mixed bag. On the one hand, I think the concept is fantastic and remains to be relevant today, maybe even more so. I like the fact that he doesn't paint the State as the evil doer but rather points the accusing fingure at society in general. On the other hand, while the book starts off fast (maybe a little too fast) and builds momentum in the middle, toward the end it becomes a little tidious and i kept finding myself wanting to be done with it rather than looking forward to the ending with anticipatation. I also don't really care for his writing style, I find it to be choppy in some parts. Overall, i think its a very good concept for a book and perhaps deserves to be considered a 'classic' but its not really a very nuanced and developed story. I don't know if it's a concept that can be presented adequatly in such a short book.

 

[ethiostar]

The Strain--------Guillermo Del Toro and Chuck Hogan

A Vampire novel set mostly in NY. The first book of a trilogy. The book started with so much potential but became very repetitive and started to fall apart a little toward the end (which made getting through almost 600 pages kind of a chore). The plot is not well developed with too many characters. The writing style is not that good either. I increasingly felt disappointed as i progressed through the book. Reviews for the second book make it seem like it will be better but I'm not sure if i will actually read it.

 

[YosemiteSam]

Finished Game of Thrones and Clash of Kings. The second book had somewhat of a lull in the first third, but it was hard to put down after the halfway point. I can't wait to get the third book!

Good, while I'm still enjoying Clash of Kings, I would definitely like it to pick up some steam. (I'm 500-550 pages in)

 

[BrAinPaiNt]

Good, while I'm still enjoying Clash of Kings, I would definitely like it to pick up some steam. (I'm 500-550 pages in)

I can't believe that I am just about page 500 and so far only 2 chapters of Daneryus (sp?).

Loving the Tyrion Chapters and really starting to enjoy the Arya ones as well.

 

[YosemiteSam]

I can't believe that I am just about page 500 and so far only 2 chapters of Daneryus (sp?).

Loving the Tyrion Chapters and really starting to enjoy the Arya ones as well.

Clash of Kings?

Arya's chapters were on a very good pace then the story took a left turn and it slowed a bit, but you can definitely see something exciting is coming for that storyline.

Dany's story is a bit slow too. It seems to me that her story actually doesn't really get moving till later. Sort of on the back burner while the clash of the other kings is taking place.

Tyrion rocks. Martin played him like a true chess game. Very methodical and cunning.

 

[Kevinicus]

I think more happens in A Storm of Swords than A Game of Thrones and A Clash of Kings combined.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

Fahrenheit 451--------------Ray Bradbury
I also don't really care for his writing style, I find it to be choppy in some parts.

Ray Bradbury hails from a different time. His writing style tends to be more verbose and his sentence structure more complex. Nowadays, writers work for maximum impact in the simplest sentence structures possible.

 

[ethiostar]

Ray Bradbury hails from a different time. His writing style tends to be more verbose and his sentence structure more complex. Nowadays, writers work for maximum impact in the simplest sentence structures possible.

I like reading literature from his time and much earlier and I have no problem with complex sentence structure, I actually enjoy it very much when its done well. I just don't like his particular style in this book.

 

[ScipioCowboy]

I like reading literature from his time and much earlier and I have no problem with complex sentence structure, I actually enjoy it very much when its done well. I just don't like his particular style in this book.

In my case, it depends on the writer. Vladimir Nabokov wielded language in a way that no writer has before or since. His sentences are often very complex and ornate. Reading them is like taking a walk through a park on a Spring Day. Energetic, colorful, a true aesthetic experience.

Someone like Henry James, on the other hand, can be quite cumbersome. Obviously, James was a greater writer, but I'm convinced he loved to read himself.

 

[JBell]

Outliers - 8/10

Book about some of the most successful people in the world, and what factors contributed to their success. The author cherry picked some of his examples, but it was definitely an interesting read.

 

[ethiostar]

Neuromancer by William Gibson

A cyberspace thriller/cyberpunk fiction published in 1984 (yes, yet another 'old' book that I am just now getting around to reading). Fantastic book, one of the best Sci-Fi novels I've read. The movie 'The Matrix' got a lot of their ideas from this book no doubt, the similarities of characters, plot, etc... is just too much.

I would highly recommend this book to anyone who enjoys Sci-Fi and especially cyberpunk/cyberspace thriller.

I read that director Vincenzo Natali is going to take a crack at making a movie based on this book. In fact the film has already went into pre-production in May 2011.

EDIT: The is the first book to have won all three of the most prestigious sci-fi awards, the Nebula, the Philip K. Dick and the Hugo awards.http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neuromancer#cite_note-mccaffery-0

 

[Maikeru-sama]

A Dance With Dragons by George R.R. Martin

Though it isn't the best book of the series, it was a page turner and just about all of the POV stories are interesting.

I'm 32 now and I hope I am not 40 when the next book comes out .

 

[YosemiteSam]

Finshed Clash of Kings not long ago. Although before moving on to the next book in the series, I've decided to switch gears. Now I'm reading The Elegant Universe by Brian Greene.