I know, I know. You've all been desperately sitting around, frozen in indecision as to what to read next without Mangler's awesome book thread to guide you on. Never fear! Mangler's here!
Of the many, many books read recently, one's I've particularly enjoyed :
The Martian by Andy Weir - One man's struggle to stay alive after a mission problem leaves him stranded alone on Mars. It's pretty funny. You'll like it.
Station Eleven by Emily St John Mandel - Post-apoc setting but ultimately it's a book about memory, about emotion and about people.
Skippy Dies by Paul Muray - a book about growing up, and how dung it is. (Also if you happen to be a writer it's a great example of tone of voice and varied narratives)
ALSO READ:
Malice by John Gwynne. The first book of a new epic fantasy. It got lots of support online over in the UK, I confess I enjoyed it as a turn the pages fantasy but it was a little bit cookie cutter.
Mangler's awesome book thread.
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Currently reading The Devil In The Marshalsea by Antonia Hodgson, about a wayward son of a country parson ending up in Marshalsea debtors' prison and a murder that occurred there just before he arrived.
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Reading the Farseer trilogy right now and it's soooo good, but horribly sad. 
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Recently finished Khaled Hosseini's And the Mountains echoed, was pretty good, but I like everything I've read so far from Khaled. Just started on the Black Tower series by Stephen King. Has anyone read that? Seems okay so far, but I'm only about half way into book one.
Re: Mangler's awesome book thread.
You mean The Dark Tower?
I liked it.
There are some areas where he "King"s up the joint, but as a whole I think it's a good read.
There are some plot holes, but what space/fantasy/epic multi-book series doesn't have those?
Still my favorite first sentence of any novel too: "The man in Black fled across the Desert, and the Gunslinger followed.”
I liked it.
There are some areas where he "King"s up the joint, but as a whole I think it's a good read.
There are some plot holes, but what space/fantasy/epic multi-book series doesn't have those?
Still my favorite first sentence of any novel too: "The man in Black fled across the Desert, and the Gunslinger followed.”
Re: Mangler's awesome book thread.
Dark Tower is one of my favorite series ever. Also, Marvel did a pretty good job with the comic books.
You might get a bit uh, "confused" as you read the series, book by book, as in "what the hell was King on when he wrote all this" but personally that's what I like about him and the Dark Tower series. In the end, and in a weird way, it all makes sense.
“First comes smiles, then lies. Last is gunfire."
Also, for fans of steam/dieselpunk and Firefly, check out Tales of the Ketty Jay book series by Chris Wooding.
You might get a bit uh, "confused" as you read the series, book by book, as in "what the hell was King on when he wrote all this" but personally that's what I like about him and the Dark Tower series. In the end, and in a weird way, it all makes sense.
“First comes smiles, then lies. Last is gunfire."
Also, for fans of steam/dieselpunk and Firefly, check out Tales of the Ketty Jay book series by Chris Wooding.
Re: Mangler's awesome book thread.
I still say "Thankee sai" to people to this day.
Kordin wrote:Dark Tower is one of my favorite series ever. Also, Marvel did a pretty good job with the comic books.
...
“First comes smiles, then lies. Last is gunfire."
Re: Mangler's awesome book thread.
Mostly school books for me lately:
The Debacle by Emile Zola. 19th century novel about the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and the short-lived Paris Commune / civil war that followed. Probably the worst Zola novel I've read, but still a lot of great stuff and horrifying passages about wounded horses trying to stand up but tripping over their own guts.
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. I was supposed to read this in high school but couldn't make it past the first few chapters. Still not a big fan after finishing, although I will probably remember ants crawling over a dead guy's face.
Adventures of Tom Sawyer - I think I read this one over a decade ago. Hilarious read this time around. Many dead cats.
The Parasite by Michel Serres. Probably one of the weirdest books I've read. It's philosophy, I guess, but really it's a book about everything. Mostly about the functional importance of noise in a system and viewing all types of relationships as parasitic relationships, partly playing off French definitions of parasite as biological parasites, social parasites, and static.
The Anthrobscene by Jussi Parikka. He's a Swedish media theorist, and this little book is mostly about toxic disposal of technology and the processes by which media become media.
Kant: A Biography by Manfred Kuehn. Mostly interesting to read about the early years of Kant's life. The second half is more or less a description of Kant's writing, and the last 3 years of his life get compressed into about 10 pages since Kuehn thinks it's not important to talk about Kant becoming demented.
He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope. Worth reading for the passage complaining about sandwiches at English railway stations. Otherwise, a novel about a man who's convinced that his wife is having an affair.
The Debacle by Emile Zola. 19th century novel about the Franco-Prussian War in 1870 and the short-lived Paris Commune / civil war that followed. Probably the worst Zola novel I've read, but still a lot of great stuff and horrifying passages about wounded horses trying to stand up but tripping over their own guts.
Red Badge of Courage by Stephen Crane. I was supposed to read this in high school but couldn't make it past the first few chapters. Still not a big fan after finishing, although I will probably remember ants crawling over a dead guy's face.
Adventures of Tom Sawyer - I think I read this one over a decade ago. Hilarious read this time around. Many dead cats.
The Parasite by Michel Serres. Probably one of the weirdest books I've read. It's philosophy, I guess, but really it's a book about everything. Mostly about the functional importance of noise in a system and viewing all types of relationships as parasitic relationships, partly playing off French definitions of parasite as biological parasites, social parasites, and static.
The Anthrobscene by Jussi Parikka. He's a Swedish media theorist, and this little book is mostly about toxic disposal of technology and the processes by which media become media.
Kant: A Biography by Manfred Kuehn. Mostly interesting to read about the early years of Kant's life. The second half is more or less a description of Kant's writing, and the last 3 years of his life get compressed into about 10 pages since Kuehn thinks it's not important to talk about Kant becoming demented.
He Knew He Was Right by Anthony Trollope. Worth reading for the passage complaining about sandwiches at English railway stations. Otherwise, a novel about a man who's convinced that his wife is having an affair.
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lol @ anthrobscene
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The Malazan Books of the Fallen, by Steven Erikson are amazing. By far my favorite book series to date. It's a detailed world that, I feel, surpasses GoT, WoT, and LotR. So many elements combine to make a fantastic web of a story. I highly, highly suggest it!
http://www.amazon.com/Gardens-Moon-Mala ... ds=Malazan
Kingkiller Chronicles are amazing as well, written by Patrick Rothfuss. I've only read the first in the series, and I'm enamoured by it.
http://www.amazon.com/Name-Wind-Kingkil ... Chronicles
American Gods, Neil Gaimen. (I'm pretty sure this was on the list at one point.)
http://www.amazon.com/American-Gods-Nei ... rican+Gods
The Dresden Files, Jim Butcher. An amazing universe, and pretty fun to read. Laughed more times than I usually do when reading.
http://www.amazon.com/Storm-Front-Dresd ... esden+File
http://www.amazon.com/Gardens-Moon-Mala ... ds=Malazan
Kingkiller Chronicles are amazing as well, written by Patrick Rothfuss. I've only read the first in the series, and I'm enamoured by it.
http://www.amazon.com/Name-Wind-Kingkil ... Chronicles
American Gods, Neil Gaimen. (I'm pretty sure this was on the list at one point.)
http://www.amazon.com/American-Gods-Nei ... rican+Gods
The Dresden Files, Jim Butcher. An amazing universe, and pretty fun to read. Laughed more times than I usually do when reading.
http://www.amazon.com/Storm-Front-Dresd ... esden+File