thebilljim Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 A couple months ago I picked up "Leningrad: Siege & Symphony" and haven't gotten around to it yet. Working an overnight tonight, so I brought it with me to finally get started on. For those that aren't familiar, it's a book about the siege at Leningrad during the Soviet empire, as filtered through the lens of composer Dmitri Shostakovich's 7th symphony, and the subsequent premiere of it IN Leningrad during the siege. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Crosley Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 I had to read A Hologram for the King by Eggers in one of my English classes. It sucked. The Circle is supposed to be a better read though. The whole thing felt boring and uninspiring, and that's coming from someone who usually likes slow paced books. Has anyone read Mr. Penumbra's 24-Hour Bookstore? I need to have it read by tomorrow, and I haven't even started it. And I need to write a response on it. Oops. I've read other Eggers - A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was pretty good, but nothing so special. I've read Penumbra. Delightful book and an honest-to-goodness 3 hour read. It's very fast, enjoyable, and pleasant enough. Kind of like a quirky, fake Indiana Jones for the digital age. Some reviews I've read were people who thought it was a bit too cheesy, but it's a lot of fun. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
GHOSTDRONES Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 Next up Seveneves by Neal Stephenson Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkinglot Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 I've read other Eggers - A Heartbreaking Work of Staggering Genius was pretty good, but nothing so special. I've read Penumbra. Delightful book and an honest-to-goodness 3 hour read. It's very fast, enjoyable, and pleasant enough. Kind of like a quirky, fake Indiana Jones for the digital age. Some reviews I've read were people who thought it was a bit too cheesy, but it's a lot of fun. Yeah, I'm standing in the bookstore line looking through it. Thank god it will be a quick read. This is my first 400 level English class, so it seems like an odd choice. Everything I have read about it makes it seem pretty lighthearted and bubbly. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dapeebs Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 I love The Shining so much, and have been debating reading that a handful of times but always decided against just so I could enjoy it as it is. What have you liked about it so far? Is Danny anything like Jack? It's a really good book. Adds a lot more backstory to the Shining ability and how there are a lot more people that possess it. And Danny is a bit like his father. I definitely recommend it though. The book House Of Leaves was what really got me into reading back when I was a disaffected 15 year old, and I recently found out it was heavily inspired by the book Pale Fire. I picked it up and I'm really enjoying it. I also just finished Jonathan Franzen's compendium of essays How To Be Alone which was a great read, though one essay I felt seriously dragged on. I keep wanting to read HoL. First got it when I first started listening to Circa Survive's Juturna, and found out the book had partially inspired the album. Seems like a daunting and engrossing book to read. Don't know if I could devote the time it deserves to it. I have Pale Fire too. Never knew it inspired House of Leaves. Guess I have to read that soon. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
eight1echo Posted January 18, 2016 Share Posted January 18, 2016 the Circle did suck Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FangsAnalSatan Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 I keep wanting to read HoL. First got it when I first started listening to Circa Survive's Juturna, and found out the book had partially inspired the album. Seems like a daunting and engrossing book to read. Don't know if I could devote the time it deserves to it. I have Pale Fire too. Never knew it inspired House of Leaves. Guess I have to read that soon. Reading House Of Leaves is a bit of an undertaking the first time you read it, but worth all the effort. As weird as it sounds, the more of it you read of it, the more you get out of it. It's totally possible to read it cover to cover and enjoy it, which is what I did the first time I read it all those years ago, but a few years ago I found a suggested way to read it on the internet and it makes it a lot more interesting, but it is also more involved. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dapeebs Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 Reading House Of Leaves is a bit of an undertaking the first time you read it, but worth all the effort. As weird as it sounds, the more of it you read of it, the more you get out of it. It's totally possible to read it cover to cover and enjoy it, which is what I did the first time I read it all those years ago, but a few years ago I found a suggested way to read it on the internet and it makes it a lot more interesting, but it is also more involved. How do you mean? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
FangsAnalSatan Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 How do you mean? Well at it's core, House of Leaves is a book containing a book that is about an essay detailing a documentary that doesn't actually exist (in both real life and the universe of the book). Because a large chunk of the book is a Chicago Style essay, if you want to get in depth you have to read all of the footnotes (which reference books, movies and shows that don't exist), and because it's an essay, there is an index, which one of which contains a collection of letters, which you should read segmentally as you read through the non-essay part of the novel to really help understand the meaning of things (or in some cases - what's really going on). So if you just read it beginning to end, not paying attention to indexes, footnotes and other things, you'll get a full novel, but reading all of those small things really adds to the book but makes it more tedious. I mean, there are reccomended reading guides, which would help you understand the novel with one reading, but it might be nicer and more organic and rewarding if you reread the certain parts after you make some connections later. But that's just me. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caninesapien Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 I wouldn't bother with a reading guide for HoL. It is by its very nature labyrinthine. Just read it as you would a normal book and go as deep or as shallow as you want to with it. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batman Posted January 19, 2016 Share Posted January 19, 2016 I'm addicted to Berserk. I'm already on the 6th volume. Gonna tear through the rest of the manga before watching the anime. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Crosley Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Finished Ernest Cline's Armada. Pretty terrible. For anyone who loved Ready Player One, don't bother. In some ways it spoiled my love of RPO. Armada's an easy read, but has so many unlikable characters and trite plot twists that it just mostly angerer me at how bad it was. Right now listening to an audiobook about the history of Super Mario (the book is called Super Mario by Jeff Ryan). Thinking based on all the continuous discussion about House of Leaves that I should pick it up. If I never read horror books, will I still like it? I'm a pretty voracious reader who prefers modern fiction and non-fiction with a bit of sci-fi thrown in. I've heard the writing style is really cool...I feel like it's worth a shot! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
jonnystorm777 Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Finished Ernest Cline's Armada. Pretty terrible. For anyone who loved Ready Player One, don't bother. In some ways it spoiled my love of RPO. Armada's an easy read, but has so many unlikable characters and trite plot twists that it just mostly angerer me at how bad it was. Right now listening to an audiobook about the history of Super Mario (the book is called Super Mario by Jeff Ryan). Thinking based on all the continuous discussion about House of Leaves that I should pick it up. If I never read horror books, will I still like it? I'm a pretty voracious reader who prefers modern fiction and non-fiction with a bit of sci-fi thrown in. I've heard the writing style is really cool...I feel like it's worth a shot! I liked Armada. I thought it was entertaining. Ready player one was way better though. I read Ready Player One in one day. I couldn't put it down. I can't wait for the movie! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
parkinglot Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 Finished Ernest Cline's Armada. Pretty terrible. For anyone who loved Ready Player One, don't bother. In some ways it spoiled my love of RPO. Armada's an easy read, but has so many unlikable characters and trite plot twists that it just mostly angerer me at how bad it was. Right now listening to an audiobook about the history of Super Mario (the book is called Super Mario by Jeff Ryan). Thinking based on all the continuous discussion about House of Leaves that I should pick it up. If I never read horror books, will I still like it? I'm a pretty voracious reader who prefers modern fiction and non-fiction with a bit of sci-fi thrown in. I've heard the writing style is really cool...I feel like it's worth a shot! It's not really a horror story. You should be fine. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
HybridxReality Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I say we start a VC book club. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dapeebs Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I say we start a VC book club. I'd totally be down. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
batman Posted January 25, 2016 Share Posted January 25, 2016 I probably would be too Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sidney Crosley Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Totally in. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
robotfactory Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Interested for sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dapeebs Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 We should definitely start a new thread to see how many people we could get in on it and organize what books we would want to read and such. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
elnombre91 Posted January 26, 2016 Share Posted January 26, 2016 Taking a break from regular adult reading to go through the discworld books again. Picked up the first four from eBay for like 11 quid. EBay is so cheap for 2nd-hand books. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadAlice Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 The Brief Wondrous Life Of Oscar Wao by Junot Diaz Sidney Crosley 1 Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MadAlice Posted January 27, 2016 Share Posted January 27, 2016 If there is anything I love as much as music, it would be reading. I could devour a library if it would not give me one hell of a stomach ache! Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hipsterasfolk Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 revisiting my J.M. Keynes collection Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gutzonborglum Posted January 28, 2016 Share Posted January 28, 2016 I'm about halfway through 'The Devil In The White City'. Absolutely fantastic read. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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