My teacher says I'm breaking books at an eighth grade level: book thread

[monkeypants]

I read Arc D'X when I was at university ( a looong  time ago!). It's a bizarre, time-warping story that starts out with Thomas Jefferson and his slave mistress in the eighteenth century and later flips quite dramatically into a sort of science fiction narrative. The author appears as a character at one point, issues of race are prominent, and there's quite a lot of sex and violence too.

Wow, that definitely sounds interesting but also quite different from "These Dreams Of You," which is a much more straightforward narrative (although it does jump around a little bit).  My interest is piqued.  Thanks for the info. 

[Thermofusion]

Anyone have any opinion about Steve Erickson? 

I read Arc D'X when I was at university ( a looong  time ago!). It's a bizarre, time-warping story that starts out with Thomas Jefferson and his slave mistress in the eighteenth century and later flips quite dramatically into a sort of science fiction narrative. The author appears as a character at one point, issues of race are prominent, and there's quite a lot of sex and violence too.

This sounds odd but great! I skimmed a plot summary elsewhere just now and, yeah, I gotta read this.

[Nick Ink]

Anyone have any opinion about Steve Erickson? 

I read Arc D'X when I was at university ( a looong  time ago!). It's a bizarre, time-warping story that starts out with Thomas Jefferson and his slave mistress in the eighteenth century and later flips quite dramatically into a sort of science fiction narrative. The author appears as a character at one point, issues of race are prominent, and there's quite a lot of sex and violence too.

This sounds odd but great! I skimmed a plot summary elsewhere just now and, yeah, I gotta read this.

Yeah, I read it nearly 20 years ago, so I can't really remember much about the writing itself, but I seem to remember it was pretty accomplished, and as I say, certainly original and memorable.

[davy]

Yo, coldforge, look what popped up in my RSS this morning.

http://www.earlyword.com/2012/04/23/readers-advisory-the-inquisitor/

[coldforge]

c'est mon pere!

[RoyBiggins]

Actual sentence I said once "I bet I can find his Dad's IMDB page.  What's his last name again...zach...Oh, fuck, never mind."

[RoyBiggins]

Also, it sounds pretty good! I'ma read it.

[Greg Nog]

I just finished it, and it's a realllll page-turner.  I kept thinking, "God damn, this is gonna make him millions of dollars when it gets turned into a movie."

[elpollodiablo]

So awesome that that's your dad's first novel, too.

[alistarr*]

Apparently it's World Book Night tonight. Someone just gave me a copy of A Tale of Two Cities. You're supposed to read a book and enjoy it and pass it on and still keep it with you. In your HEART.

[elpollodiablo]

Oh I guess we don't really have a "goal" exactly, just trying to raise awareness of books generally, just to make people more aware of y'know books and reading

[Black Amnesia of Heaven]

i read the sample of coldforge's dad's book on my phone last week and it's pretty tremendous

[jebreject]

Just bought the Kindle version! I'll read it when I'm done with these stupid Hunger Games books

[milly balgeary]

Anyone have any opinion about Steve Erickson? 

I read Arc D'X when I was at university ( a looong  time ago!). It's a bizarre, time-warping story that starts out with Thomas Jefferson and his slave mistress in the eighteenth century and later flips quite dramatically into a sort of science fiction narrative. The author appears as a character at one point, issues of race are prominent, and there's quite a lot of sex and violence too.

This sounds odd but great! I skimmed a plot summary elsewhere just now and, yeah, I gotta read this.

I tried to like him but I thought his writing was kinda sterile. I think I read Arc D'X ....

[milly balgeary]

Yo boy King has a new "dark tower" novel out.


I actually am quite taken with the title, but the cover ...

Roland tells his people of his early days as a gunslinger from Gilead and how he teamed up with another young man to investigate a shape-shifter, called "the Skin-man," who began a killing spree around a mining town.
King takes the reader down the rabbit hole a little more from there: Roland strikes up a friendship with a boy whose father is murdered and tells him a fairy tale — one that lasts half the novel — involving magicians, dragons, swamp people and an 11-year-old named Tim determined to avenge his father's death.

That actually sounds really fucking good. I am NOT gonna lie.

[fishjim]

Holy shit. It finally occurs to me that these Dark Tower novels are probably based - yeah, based! - around my favorite poem, "Childe Roland to the Dark Tower Came". Gotta read em!

Do I start at the beginning?

[jebreject]

why am I reading these Hunger Games books? They're at once totally engrossing and utterly banal.

[Thermofusion]

Yo boy King has a new "dark tower" novel out.


I actually am quite taken with the title, but the cover ...

Roland tells his people of his early days as a gunslinger from Gilead and how he teamed up with another young man to investigate a shape-shifter, called "the Skin-man," who began a killing spree around a mining town.
King takes the reader down the rabbit hole a little more from there: Roland strikes up a friendship with a boy whose father is murdered and tells him a fairy tale — one that lasts half the novel — involving magicians, dragons, swamp people and an 11-year-old named Tim determined to avenge his father's death.

That actually sounds really fucking good. I am NOT gonna lie.

YES. It's getting good reviews, too.

[Em]

The Loom of Ruin, by Sam McPheeters

Sam McPheeters is a friend's uncle and my friend gave me an extra copy he had lying around. Book's pretty wacky but I'm really digging it so far.

[jebreject]

That dude fronted one of my favorite bands of all time

Just sayin'

[Em]

I know, me too. 

[davy]

Hey sci-fi fans (if any more exist)...

I'm really enjoying this:



It's a 2012 Hugo Award nominee, and the second book in the series comes out next month. Well-written, extremely fast-paced, lots of fun.

[dieblucasdie]

I normally don't talk much about my reading here, since, quite frankly, this place is my escape from shit, but I thought I'd mention that I read most of The Queer Art of Failure today, since I know adf reps Halberstam, and I also feel like it directly addresses a lot of pollo's recent thoughts about intellectual work and the academy. I don't really know why, but I went in expecting a more narrow, orthodox "being queer is the bestest most radical politics ever" argument, so it delighted it me all the more when she got all, "Fuck everything, let's cash our university checks and watch Spongebob with our students and see what happens." Some of the specific textual arguments seem like stretches, but that's kind of the point: it's the most delightful bit of academic/semi-academic writing I've encountered in quite some time.

[silentsigh89]

c'est mon pere!

I forgot to tell you about this!! I run the social media for a DC book review organization, and we had posted a review about his book. He and I exchanged a few messages over the official Facebook account for the org about the review and promotion for it,  and after about two messages I figured out who he was but then, you know, decided it would be strange to go from being somewhat professional and speaking on behalf of the organization to "OMG I know your son!!!!"


Back to other reading: In my first year of school I found out that I missed out on some serious essential reading that everyone else seems to have done in undergrad.

Currently, I am playing catch-up by reading through Daniel Yergin's books in my spare time and I have to say that I am SHOCKED that I find it all to be so interesting. Normally, I could not care less about institutional and business history, but my boyfriend and I have been reading The Prize before bed every night, eagerly turning the pages to find out more about the way that Standard Oil set up their trust.

[fishjim]

Currently, I am playing catch-up by reading through Daniel Yergin's books in my spare time and I have to say that I am SHOCKED that I find it all to be so interesting. Normally, I could not care less about institutional and business history, but my boyfriend and I have been reading The Prize before bed every night, eagerly turning the pages to find out more about the way that Standard Oil set up their trust.

I've had that experience, too. My weird pleasure was Oil, God, and Gold: The Story of Aramco and the Saudi Kings. Aramco geeks - you know who you are, and you know you want this.