What ya reading? Version 425108

[Burninator]

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. One the greatest first sentences in a book, The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason.

[Looch City]

Originally Posted by Burninator

Seveneves by Neal Stephenson. One the greatest first sentences in a book, The moon blew up without warning and for no apparent reason.

I'm just reading Carl Seagan's Contact and Seveneves sounds like a perfect next book, thanks!

[Minnie]

I'm trying to get 'The Woman Who Would Be King' in at the library and having issues (shows in the catalog but can't be requested) so may have to just purchase it. I read some historical fiction regarding her descendants that references Hatshepsut and then ran across this book, and figured it looked worth the read.

[troutman]

The 16 Best Fiction Books of 2016 (So Far)

https://www.pastemagazine.com/articl...16-so-far.html

[Knut]

Thought i would give an update of the recent Audiobooks i have gone through.

1) Seveneves - Neal Stephenson --> I really enjoyed this one. I know that people felt that the last part of the story is such a sharp change in tone. If you see it as an epilogue it really works well. Enjoyable read and very science based. Human survival story in vivid detail.

2) Aurora - Kim Stanley Robinson --> A Generation ship travels to a different solar system to spread out humanity. Very realistic look at how this would work. It is a great read and I highly recommend it.

3) Fear the Sky/Fear the Survivors/Fear the Future - Stephen Moss ---> Alien invasion Trilogy. Has a very interesting take on the Aliens and the method they use to take over the planet. The first book reads like a Spy Thriller, whereas the others are more Hard Sci-Fi. Fun read for sure.

4) Sleeping Giants - Sylvain Neuvel - This has been a highly recommended book on many Sci-fi lists for 2016. I think it suffered as an Audiobook as the story is told in an interview style, but the voice actors used were annoying. Worth a read, but skip the Audiobook. An Alien Robot hand is found by a little girl, touching off an expedition to find out what it is for.

5) Foundation Series - Issac Asimov . I had read this 15 years ago and I thought i would re-explore it as an Audiobook. It holds up well, but you can definitely get a sense that Asimov lived in a different time in regards to how women are viewed etc. I shifted my approach to see it as human technology and social norms De-evolving and then our species spreading out among the stars and not really advancing in many ways.

[CaptainCrunch]

I decided to re-read the Stand again, for some reason its one of the few Stephen King novels that he got really right.

[White Out 403]

Heading on vacation soon to Cape Breton so I ordered up a copy of Sam Harris' first book, end of faith. Can't wait to get my teeth into it on the Cabot Trail. I haven't read nearly enough in a while, I used to read books all the time. Now my attention span is like that of a hummingbird

[nik-]

I just finished 100 Years of Solitude and I don't know that I'm a huge fan. I enjoyed it well enough, and the literary style of it was nice. However, the tale it told was just "ok". There were a few laugh out loud moments and a lot of sad parts. The magical realism component he's famous for was actually kind of neat.

I'm not sure if I'll read more of Garcia Marquez even though I was interested in doing so. I'm wondering if his other works have a more coherent story to tell.

[peter12]

Originally Posted by Resurrection

Heading on vacation soon to Cape Breton so I ordered up a copy of Sam Harris' first book, end of faith. Can't wait to get my teeth into it on the Cabot Trail. I haven't read nearly enough in a while, I used to read books all the time. Now my attention span is like that of a hummingbird

Oh man, you are going to be a real delight after finishing that little book.

[White Out 403]

Originally Posted by peter12

Oh man, you are going to be a real delight after finishing that little book.

Go on

[DownInFlames]

Originally Posted by CaptainCrunch

I decided to re-read the Stand again, for some reason its one of the few Stephen King novels that he got really right.

I recently started re-reading it too. I downloaded the Complete and Uncut version. It's been decades since I last read it so it's tough to make a comparison, but it seems like he goes into a lot more detail about the spread of Captain Trips, and the lengths the government went to trying to keep control as society was breaking down. It's about 2000 pages on my ereader but I'm already a quarter done. I think it's his best work, and this version is worth reading.

I've also been listening to Doug Stanhope's "Digging Up Mother". I probably wouldn't recommend it unless you're a fan, but I'm really enjoying it.

[annasuave]

I'm waffling on picking up Seveneves. A Stephensen book is kind of a big commitment.

[CaptainCrunch]

Originally Posted by DownInFlames

I recently started re-reading it too. I downloaded the Complete and Uncut version. It's been decades since I last read it so it's tough to make a comparison, but it seems like he goes into a lot more detail about the spread of Captain Trips, and the lengths the government went to trying to keep control as society was breaking down. It's about 2000 pages on my ereader but I'm already a quarter done. I think it's his best work, and this version is worth reading.

I've also been listening to Doug Stanhope's "Digging Up Mother". I probably wouldn't recommend it unless you're a fan, but I'm really enjoying it.

In the original cut book there was no meeting between "The Kid" and the Trashcan man.

I've just always liked the Randall Flag character, and especially when they're talking about him like he's the Devils Imp or in the service of Satan. Then Glen Bateman kind of stands up and basically says "Wait a minute, we're all sitting here serving some 108 year old woman who claims to talk to God. Maybe the Devil is the last vestige of rational man"

Very cool scene

[Puppet Guy]

finished off The Yellow Admiral by Patrick O'Brian last night, and starting on The Hundred Days today. I very likely will finish the whole series off by December, which will make me both happy and sad.

[jeffporfirio]

Recently finished The Girl on the Train (meh) and The Nightingale (very good).
Just started the biography of Padre Pio.

[troutman]

[malcolmk14]

Read 'The Water Knife' by Paolo Bacigalupi, and 'California' by Edan Lepucki. Both very interesting reads.

Currently reading 'Black Flags: The Rise of ISIS' by Joby Warrick.

[troutman]

After only 15 minutes at Indigo:

[Ashartus]

Originally Posted by troutman

After only 15 minutes at Indigo:

The advantage of switching to ebooks - my wife can't see how many books I buy after 15 minutes of browsing.

[Sainters7]

I realize I'm going to sound like a giant dork here, but I know there's some Roman history buffs on this forum (at least there used to be): does anyone know of a good read on emperor Trajan? I've only found one online and most reviews indicate it reads like stereo instructions.

Considering all the wealth of info about some of the crappier emperors, I find it rather odd that someone like Trajan - who's regarded up there with names like Augustus and Hadrian as arguably the best emperor in Roman history, and expanded the empire to its greatest size - has virtually no books dedicated to him. That can't be, cab it?