Books

[Grefter]

Slap yourself for that thought process, that kind of stuff is exactly what book topics are for, letting people know about what you are reading.  If a book is goodish in spite of stuff then you mention that stuff like you did.

[Cotigo]

G11 series (Mistaken Identity, Planetfall, Colony).  Surprisingly very good.  My thought process, though, was:

"You can't report on that in the Books topic--that's like talking about fanfiction or something."
"But it's been published into three books."
"Okay sure, but it still has traces of its internet fiction origins."
"Such as?"
"It has sexual content!"
"Less than the Song of Fire and Ice series, to be perfectly honest, and that's probably the most talked about series in these topics."
"Well...the pacing could be improved."
"The pacing was ultimately fine, seeing as I lost a lot of sleep reading it, and it actually distrated me away from both TF2 and WAXF."
"The editing could be better--it has the occasional grammatical error."
"True, and that's the biggest strike against it, but so does Eve Zaremba's White Noise, and I reported on that book--small-scale publishers don't find 100% of grammatical errors."
"What about the non-grammar typos?  What about the mathematical inconsistencies in the story?"
"Pfft, even the best edititng ever doesn't always save you from those.  Look at Harry Potter--Dudley got a Playstation before it was released, and the population of Hogwarts doesn't add up."

These thoughts are stupid and you should feel ashamed for having them.  Given that I've seen much worse than "fanfiction" (and talked about worse! Ech, Jane Austen) talked about here...

Though, this thought process does open up a discussion thread about how serious one should be able to take internet produced productions, but I don't want to derail the thread, so...

Mark McLelland - Male Homosexuality in Modern Japan: Cultural Myths and Social Realities - Yeah, it's the only book I've read in the past week, back off.  Very interesting look at (male) homosexuality in Japan, with a brief overview of pre-Meiji acceptance of homosexuality/bisexuality (nanshoku), an overview of gay men's treatment by the mass media as okama (transvestites) and sexual fantasy (both in yaoi aimed at... well, Miasma, and gay magazines aimed at actual gay men), then several interviews with gay men in Japan circa 2000.  It was quite interesting to see how, given the lack of the Western world's religious background and individualistic look at social psychology and certain aspects of Japanese thinking, there wasn't really a trend of people identifying themselves by their sexuality like we often do here.  Moreso than that, despite not identifying themselves by their sexuality and most simply relegating that part of their life to something like a hobby or playtime and thus only a small part of their existence, most still had to be extremely careful about hiding their practices from most everyone, including those in their "uchi" or in group.  Really fascinating; I want to see how things have changed what with the internet becoming even more of a prominent information spreading tool since then.  Should probably pick up his second book for that, when I'm less busy and just trying to get through school reading.

[Hunter Sopko]

Reread Jurassic Park for the first time since... well, hell, since the movie came out. Got a hell of a lot more out of it than I did then, mostly because it didn't all fly over my head this time. Good stuff, and still surprising the difference in the people who die compared to the movie, since usually they tend to keep that (if combine roles) and change the events ::Looks at Samurai 7::  I still think the movie did a good job being, in general, faithful to the book. Same questions are raised, in general the same things happen with the right details cut. What's funny is the stuff they left out that they added to the second and third movie. For all his faults, I think I'd rather have book Gennero as my lawyer than anyone else at this point.

I think the most humorous difference is Grant.

Movie: "God I hate kids."
Book: "Kids are awesome!"

[Sierra]

It amused me, on reading the book, to see how much Gennero actually did (pretty much most of what Ellie does in the movie). Of course, it was a Spielberg movie, so the lawyer had to be detestable and devoid of redeeming human qualities.

[Hunter Sopko]

To be fair, he's actually worse in the book. In the movie he just comes off as your typical boring and uninteresting lawyer. They didn't let him really DO enough to be considered a dick. The book allows him to flourish in that respect. He does redeem himself, but he's still worse off.

[Ranmilia]

"It has sexual content!"
"Less than the Song of Fire and Ice series, to be perfectly honest, and that's probably the most talked about series in these topics."

This can be said for pretty much everything.  Up to and including most Japanese h-games.

College campus is closing and relocating, so all the professors are setting out boxes of books they don't want for students to take.  Random stuff I've read sitting around waiting for classes:

Marisha Pessi - Special Topics in Calamity Physics:  Surprisingly excellent.  Starts out looking like a standard coming of age drama that seems like it'll have a ton of flaws (unsympathetic protagonist, inaccessible for non-English majors, heavy handed cliches) then not only avoids them all but turns them into assets to set up an amazing ending.  I can't say much more without spoiling it, but read this if you happen to see it around.

Pat Conroy - Beach Music:  Figured I'd give some modern realistic fiction a shot, and wound up turning pages, even though I disliked the plot and nearly all the characters.  Well written, just felt very unrelatable to me.

[metroid composite]

Given that I've seen much worse than "fanfiction" (and talked about worse! Ech, Jane Austen) talked about here...

Would now be a bad time to mention that I was thinking about comparing the G11 series to Jane Austen?  I mean, one might be able to describe it as Jane Austen in space.  Except with more sex, violence, LGBT, and epicness of plotline.  (Which is to say it has such stuff...in fact all of the above, barring perhaps lesbians).

"It has sexual content!"
"Less than the Song of Fire and Ice series, to be perfectly honest, and that's probably the most talked about series in these topics."

This can be said for pretty much everything.  Up to and including most Japanese h-games.

And not including...probably 50% of internet fiction.  Presumably a lot of romance novels too, from what I've heard.

Song of Fire and Ice is noteworthy for being a respected published work that doesn't shy away from the subject of sex (in that every other book I can think of stops descriptions at groping, if it even gets that far).  However, the books as a whole are also cleary not about sex (in that sex comprises maybe 10% of the scenes)--low enough that it can be argued that the sex is included for realism and character motivation (and not included for its own sake...although SoFI pushes that boundary sometimes).

[Ranmilia]

True, I was counting published works, not internet fiction or books that are explicitly about sex.  (Actually, the point was that it has more sex than some works that *are* supposedly about sex.)  I think SoIaF crossed the 'gratuitous' line somewhere in book 2 or 3, though, and that's one of my major problems with the series.  Definitely around the part where Dany's maids started helping her to sleep, if not before. 

[Sierra]

Given that I've seen much worse than "fanfiction" (and talked about worse! Ech, Jane Austen) talked about here...

Would now be a bad time to mention that I was thinking about comparing the G11 series to Jane Austen?  I mean, one might be able to describe it as Jane Austen in space.  Except with more sex, violence, LGBT, and epicness of plotline.  (Which is to say it has such stuff...in fact all of the above, barring perhaps lesbians).

You totally had me until that last phrase.

[Cotigo]

Eh.  See, in SoIaF the sex usually works for the purposes of character development--it worked particularly well with Tyrion and Jon Snow, though it missed the mark a little with Dany in that though I can remember the scene I can't recall exactly what impact it was supposed to have on her other than making her uncomfortable and supposedly signifying... something about her moving past the horse lord whose name I forget from book 1.  It gets a little much at times, but I would be hard pressed to say it's gratutious; read contemporary fiction (EDIT: published fiction, mind, not internet publications or something published through the far more sketchy self publication companies) and there's about a 30% chance sex will be talked about as explicitly as it is in Martin's series, and about a 5% chance that it'll be talked about more explicitly. Mary Gaitskill, Miranda July, Alan Hasset (Oh man, Alan Hasset...  If you think the depictions of sex in ASoIaF are bad go read "The Beginnings of Grief."  Though arguably it's utilized better in that work than it is in ASoIaF), and others I can't list off off the top of my head (those are just the ones I've read recently and thus the ones more prominent in my mind), have all published stories with more explicit depictions of sex acts than ASoIaF.  Honestly, saying that the series has "more sex than works supposedly about sex" is naive (especially regarding works ostensibly about sex! But you're Alex so that's O.K.) and blows the scenes in question out of proportion both within the books (EDIT 2: hey, look, another tangent that makes this sentence hard to read) and within trends in modern literature. 

Which, of course, brings us back to the point I made in my last post:  MC's worries about something not being valid enough of a piece of fiction to talk about in this topic are stupid.

Serious EDIT2:  Of course, though anthologized or published in collections of stories through the traditional channels they are certainly less popular; ASoIaF is one of the few pieces of pop fiction that takes as frank of an approach to sex as it does.  An argument could be made that this is an artifact from the works being closer to literary fiction than other fantasy or pop fiction works, but an equally compelling argument could be made to that connection being superficial.  I would probably say that the lack of such an approach to sex in much pop. fiction stems from the fact that pop. fiction is written for and marketed to the public at large (even most fantasy; moreso than literary fiction, anyway) and is more a reflection of the public's tastes than it is a qualifier of... well, anything else.

EDIT 3:  Also, after rereading MC's first post, hahahahahaha.  Mathematical inconsistencies.  Hahahaha.  Oh, man, what do you expect? A writer to not fail at math to a degree?  Hahahaha.  Haaaaah.

[metroid composite]

Given that I've seen much worse than "fanfiction" (and talked about worse! Ech, Jane Austen) talked about here...

Would now be a bad time to mention that I was thinking about comparing the G11 series to Jane Austen?  I mean, one might be able to describe it as Jane Austen in space.  Except with more sex, violence, LGBT, and epicness of plotline.  (Which is to say it has such stuff...in fact all of the above, barring perhaps lesbians).

You totally had me until that last phrase.

If it makes you feel better, it has lesbian moments (causing much awkwardness) just no character who is explicitly lesbian (as opposed to, say, bi).

EDIT 3:  Also, after rereading MC's first post, hahahahahaha.  Mathematical inconsistencies.  Hahahaha.  Oh, man, what do you expect? A writer to not fail at math to a degree?  Hahahaha.  Haaaaah.

It sometimes happens >_>

[ThePiggyman]

Just finished reading The Giver.

In my opinion, the best book I've read since Animal Farm.

[Talaysen]

Just finished reading The Giver.

Good man.

[metroid composite]

Well given my previous slap on the wrists I suppose I should report on...

G15 Classified.

That's right, internet fanfiction based on the universe of other internet fiction.

Complete Trash.

The funny thing is that it actually addresses most of the weaknesses of the G11 series.  (For instance, it goes out of its way to avoid mathematical inconsistencies.  The main character doesn't have airhead moments, and is, in fact, nicknamed "the brain".  More technical behind-the-scenes explanations are offered for certain aspects of the universe).  None of this really matters, though, as the main character suffers from Mary Sue syndrome (no secret of the universe is safe from "the Brain").  Among other things, this overdone "I'm a genius" posturing is somewhat out of place with the character's supposed psychological diagnosis around which the events of the story are supposed to be based.  The author also seems to lack a certain flair for the dramatic; a lot of scenes coming off as rather dry that probably shouldn't.  In fact, conflict seems to come primarily in the form of being mildly uncomfortable or creeped out by the situation (it also comes from some minor characters whom everyone seems to agree are idiots, though somehow that means even less, because those characters are idiots and therefore their opinion is invalid).

Granted, maybe I'm being unfair--certain characters didn't have much worth at the start of G11 either, but developed in later books.  However I can't see myself reading the later G15 books because A: the first one, while briefly interesting for the technical approach to the setting, did not lend itself to length, B: said books aren't even written yet, and C: one of the authors has left, so the quality will probably go downhill.

[VySaika]

Charles Stross - Singularity Sky

Very good book, and probably the best modern Sci Fi I've read in a few years. Stross can be a little hard to follow at times, because he jumps around alot, but that's about my only complaint. The man is nearly as adept at information density as Doc Smith, so a whole lot is happening in a very short span of pages at any given point. Which frankly, I enjoy.

Also the Eschaton is single most literal "deus ex machina" I've ever read about. God from a machine, indeed. "Thou Shalt Not Commit Casuality Violations Within My Historic Lightcone"

[Hunter Sopko]

Making Money: Not quite as good as Going Postal, but still good. Moist continues to be awesome, as does Miss Dearheart. Hopefully more coming from this series, though we are in desperate need of a Watch novel focusing on Carrot.

[Cmdr_King]

Decided to read back over an old StalkStalk topic and pick up books you people like.  Afterall, if I can't trust the DL for all my popular fiction and literature needs,, who can I trust?  There's a list of five or six worth noting, the first two...

Animal Farm- What's to say?  It's a well hashed-over book that, despite the intense focus of its subject, is well worth reading.  Orwell's mastery of the language lends an uncharacteristic elegance to smashing the reader's face with a sledge hammer of truth, and watching it in action is somewhat awe inspiring.

And then...

1984- Gosh, this is almost like something I've read before... hmmm...
But no.  Winston Smith is compellingly human in all respects, which drives forward a book that'd be pretty captivating anyways.  What really stands out is the totality of the Dystopia, the obvioius thougth behind it all.  And, of course, the afforementioned "Orwell makes you like taking sledge to the face".
Funnily, I can't think of a Dystopia since, and being a bit into scifi as a youth I saw a lot, that was a quarter as totalitarian and absolute as Oceania.  They just don't go nearly as far with the concept as Orwell did on the first real trip out, and obviously in less detail but 1984 spent a good 300 pages on exacting detail of just how bad things were so that's a bit of an unfair comparison.

Catch-22 next.  Subsequent reading to follow when I can get my hands on copies of things.

[Grefter]

Needs more Clockwork Orange and Candide.  Then fucking read Red Mars goddammit, I know Sage has read it and I think Elf, but I need someone else to do it.

Green Mars - So I am almost finished.  I love the mirroring of 2061 in the second revolution, it is all like the first one just done RIGHT with the moderates in power because most of the real extremes have died off and what you are left counting as extremists are mostly extreme about non-directly political things (Terraforming rather than social structure and stuff).  It is really awesome. 

Favourite part is Sax getting his revenge, it is so deliciously stark and direct.  He gets back at the secret police that tortured him and gave him brain damage by furthering his terraforming program to increase the oxegyn levels on the planet to roughly 40%, plants the area they live in full of plants that drop seeds in forest fires, then ignites the whole fucking area (while having carefully designed the whole thing to be contained by natural features).  So he just burns them entirely plant off the face of the planet by making the planet potentially one giant air fuel bomb (40% oxegyn atmostphere ignites suuuuuuuper fast and easy).  All while furthering his terraforming projects.

So cool.

[metroid composite]

Reading more internet fiction.  Most of it is either not good enough to mention, or short enough that I wouldn't classify it as a book.  Some science fiction and X-Men ripoffs border on being worth a mention just for how different and imaginative they are, but not really.  The piece that really had me losing sleep was "Educating Danielle"--which is to say, I was up till 4am last night reading it, and continued in the morning not wanting to stop for breakfast.  What makes this weird is that I have a hard time defending it objectively--it's not finished, and the plot arc shows signs of not being planned out ahead of time, and the editing is bad.  The one thing I can say it does do well is to create tension out of relatively mundane real-world situations (which is to say, if you don't like Jane Austen, I doubt you'd find much value in this).

[superaielman]

Been on a reading/movie binge recently.  Figured I'd start here first, but just one book.  Granted, this book is awesome.

World War Z, by Max Brooks. 

This is the same guy who wrote the humorous Zombie Survival Guide.  However, this isn't a joke book - Brooks outlines an actual zombie apocalypse (theoretical, of course), and fills it with loads of social commentary and a unique perspective that really illustrates an understanding of multiple cultures, ideals and mechanics of the world at large.  The book is written as a collection of interviews of survivors of the war, giving a good perspective of the world's reactions to a world-wide zombie outbreak.  It's...a great social commentary and an excellent read either way.  Great if you like social commentaries, zombie books, post-apocalyptic novels, etc.  Really a good book I'd suggest to anyone looking for something good to read.  I'm thinking I'll be reading it again soon.  Just really good.

Just grabbed World War Z from the library myself. I really dig the way the novel's laid out- it's a very breezy 300 pages, easy to read in a long afternoon. It covers the story very well in a brief amount of time. I'm just not sure how much I care for some of the social commentary.  Good book though.

[Mad Fnorder]

Finished Blind Willow, Sleeping Woman by Haruki Murakami. Well, finished in as much as you can finish reading a short-story collection. I can't pin down what about his writing sucks me in, but I haven't enjoyed something as much in a long, long time. A lot of the stories remind me of slowly inflating bubbles, just staring at the surface tension- the trick being sometimes the bubble pops, sometimes it doesn't. In any case, highly recommended to give it a shot- I think a story or two of his are online.

[Captain K.]

Guns of the South:  Echoing what others have said - Turtledove knows his shit.  Little details like the average height of 1800s man being noticeably less than 2000s man really make the story click.  Good stuff.  Is How Few Remain a direct sequel or just another story?

The Dragon Reborn:  Everyone decides to become more responsible and mature this book!

Perrin: "I'm going to stop being a moody whiner."

Mat:  "I'm going to stop being an obnoxious twat."

Rand:  "Screw you guys, I'm going KA-RAY-ZAY!"

Well, 2 out of 3 ain't bad.

They also introduce a new character named Faile, who does exactly that.

Oh, and Siuan Sanche, we get that you were a fisherman's daughter.  WE GET IT.  You do not need to utter a fishing euphamism in EVERY SINGLE SENTENCE.  The writer actually had to invent an entire town where people used fishing euphamisms in every sentence to cover this important story aspect.

[AAA]

How Few Remain is entirely unrelated to Guns of the South, it's a what-if scenario instead of one about time travel.

[superaielman]

Opening Atlantis- Finished. See what Shale said in general. It was a very enjoyable read all the way through, the history was broken up nicely. (The founding, the settling, and then it's uniting under the english flag).

Looking forward to the next book.

[Grefter]

Knife of Dreams - Finally found where I had left this.  Reading it now, bit shy of halfway through the book.  Having lots of fun with Mat and Perrin stuff, could use some Rand, but what is there is good so far, much better than I remember Crossroads of Twilight and Path of Daggers to be and whatnot.  Oh but hey, here is the Elayne chapters and she is being an annoying bitch.  IF ONLY I HAD CONTROL OVER MY EMOTIONS AGAIN WHILE I AM UP THE DUFF.  Bitch you never had any fucking control over your emotions anyway, you have always been a whiney impulsive bitch, get the fuck out of my book and let me read some plot about someone I give a flying fuck about.