February 2019: Reading thread

[hitmouse]

Everybody seems to rave on about it, personally I found the characters cold and the concept explanations dull

Absolutely loved it. Prrsevere.

 

[Hugh]

Richard Shrobe: "Elegant Failure, a Guide to Zen Koans"

sigh

I've been reading through this (twice) (slowly) on and off for two or three months in the hope that I might get some understanding of this collection of abstruse koans. The author does manage to bring some sense to the tenth century idioms, but....

sigh

 

[Vince W]

Slaughterhouse-Five by Kurt Vonnegut. Had a reread of this amazing book as it's the 50th anniversary this year.

 

[hitmouse]

Richard Shrobe: "Elegant Failure, a Guide to Zen Koans"

sigh

I've been reading through this (twice) (slowly) on and off for two or three months in the hope that I might get some understanding of this collection of abstruse koans. The author does manage to bring some sense to the tenth century idioms, but....

sigh

Have you read Zen Flesh Zen Bones by Paul Reps? As this sort of thing goes it is relatively light and sometimes quite funny.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

At last, after a couple of years I've tracked down a book I read many years ago. The Stone and Flute, by Hans Bemman.

 

[Hugh]

Have you read Zen Flesh Zen Bones by Paul Reps? As this sort of thing goes it is relatively light and sometimes quite funny.

Thank you. I'll definitely read that before long. I've just realised it's already on my book shelves, unread, having survived numerous culls.

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

Just finishing Weaveworld by Clive Barker for the umpteenth time.

Unsure where to go next. I've got the below in waiting...

Mistborn series, Malice and Rivers of London.

Huge Clive Barker fan. Have you read Cabal?

 

[Luiglin]

Huge Clive Barker fan. Have you read Cabal?

Cabal, Imagica, Damnation Game and Hellraiser novella. I've got Coldheart Canyon and the Great and Secret Show but could never get into those later books.

 

[tobl]

Everybody seems to rave on about it, personally I found the characters cold and the concept explanations dull

yep, didn't caught my fancy either

 

[Bick]

Now reading Dorsai! by Gordon R. Dickson. I’ve been meaning to read this for some time.

 

[tobl]

Now reading Dorsai! by Gordon R. Dickson. I’ve been meaning to read this for some time.

it's one of my favorite series

 

[The Big Peat]

Just finished Robyn Travis' Mama Can't Raise No Man, a novel about a young black man stuck in prison trying to get to grips with his life and his masculinity. All told through letters and phone transcripts in dialect. Its interesting and fun stuff, but the story is slightly overwhelmed by the thesis at times.

Now dipping and diving between De Bodard's House of Shattered Wings which is very intriguing and elegantly done but so slow and Rob Hayes' Where Loyalties Lie, a piratical romp that's fun but lacking a little polish and pace.

 

[HareBrain]

Just started John le Carre's The Russia House. So I'm now part-way through six books, which for me is easily a record.

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

Cabal, Imagica, Damnation Game and Hellraiser novella. I've got Coldheart Canyon and the Great and Secret Show but could never get into those later books.

Agree 100% - and I struggled with Mister B Gone and The Scarlett Gospels. I think his earlier work is far superior

 

[nixie]

Every now and then you pick up a book and it's just what you need. It doesn't have to be a masterpiece, thought provoking or even well written. All it needs to do is entertain and shut out the world, Edgar Cantero's Meddling Kids, fluffy, far fetched, with I feel a nod to the famous five ( Blyton Hill, even the dog's called Tim) and Scooby doo ( pretend monsters, traps) it kept me highly amused, I missed my stop on bus I was so engrossed.

 

[vanye]

I'm stunned that you didn't get into this. I thought it was a great read. For a time I thought Julie Czerneda was the next great SF author. But I haven't seen much from her lately.

Same here. A Thousand Words for Stranger was a very nice surprise after picking it up on a whim. But one the other hand, I got tired of the Expanse story after the third book or so.

 

[Extollager]

Finished Marshall's thorough, readable Bob Dylan: A Spiritual Life. Reading Eleanor Nicholson's A Bloody Habit, which so far comes across as a Late Victorian-era mystery novel with insistent reminders of Dracula. It has an endorsement from Tim Powers on the back cover.

 

[Ian Fortytwo]

I'm reading The Runagates Club, by John Buchan. It's a collection of twelve stories, and is an excellent read.

 

[Pedro Del Mar]

All it needs to do is entertain and shut out the world, Edgar Cantero's Meddling Kids, fluffy, far fetched, with I feel a nod to the famous five ( Blyton Hill, even the dog's called Tim) and Scooby doo ( pretend monsters, traps) it kept me highly amused, I missed my stop on bus I was so engrossed.

Thanks Nixie, this sounds like a fun read, just ordered it

 

[Parson]

I just finished our own Nathan Hystad's new book Rift. Here is the review I left on Amazon. For 90%+ of this book I was sure it was the best thing I'd ever read by him. As you can see in this review it is the ending where the book falls short of a 5 star rating from me. --- But still a great read and highly recommended.

This book is an excellent opening chapter in a new series by Nathan Hystad. This book has several strengths. First among them is the character development. There are several main characters all with their own strengths, weaknesses, and back stories. I found that I was caring about all of them and as the story developed I was pleased by the way their stories were woven together into a main narrative. It is also not clear who (if anyone) is the "hero" of this story; or even if there is a right side. We are encouraged to think about whether both sides can unite against an alien menace. And there's even some question whether the alien menace is actually a menace or not.

The main weakness of this book is the ending. It brings all of the characters and all of the sides together in a confrontation and then simply ends and we are left complaining about the lack of an immediate sequel. (Soon to be available.)