Current reading - Page 70

Men, Women, and Chain Saws: Gender in the Modern Horror Film, an amazing book that explores gender in horror films, especially slasher films and revenge films. Very academic, but well done.

I just finished SOON I WILL BE INVINCIBLE this morning. Anyone who enjoys superhero stories will probably get a kick out of this. Often funny, well-written, and a quick read, it bounces back and forth between two narratives (superhero and supervillain). Lots of cliches are addressed/dismissed in clever ways. I'd say it's a safe recommendation for most people who read this site.

The only slur here is how badly you butchered my username. What, does copy/paste not work in your world?

I have no words.....


Edit- Yes I do actually! I'm gonna try to break this post down. First you say you don't mean to insult "us guys", then you ahead and basically insult us saying we're all jealous of him. Then you make another absurd statement, "I don't know how everyone is not his fan?" Personally, I have only seen the show about 3 times and don't care about him either way, but try considering the fact that we don't have school girl crushes on him like you obviously do.

So, to wrap this up, I'll just say that I kind of suspect there might be a weird, "Kate never interacting with a human male in real life before" thing going on.

I love INTO THIN AIR. I first read it in 5th grade and I've read it like four times since. I read "THE BOY WHO CLIMBED EVEREST" specifically because of my enjoyment of INTO THIN AIR. Why does Grylls need to be in competition with Krakhauer? Can there be only one Everest book or something? Besides, lets face it: neither of them can hold a candle to Mr Tenzing Norgay (who as far as I know never bothered to write a book)


Can someone please make a movie about this guy?

PS The "fraud" stuff is totally over blown and exaggerated by the media because they were looking for a story. He didn't fake anything that mattered and as previously stated he does plenty of verifiable awesome stuff right on camera.




I was going to try and defuse the tension with a joke about how Grylls is a married man but the 'Appalachian Trail' does run through Massachusetts if he ever wanted to stop by, but now I'm annoyed (!)

There is no need to drag my romantic history into things. I'm not sure how the success I have or have not had with love in my life is relevant to this discussion.

I posted about the book I was reading and someone made a crack about how Grylls would have been "helicoptered off Everest" which is obviously impossible given the vertical lift capacity of helicopters. In defending him I made a comment that you apparently were hurt by. For that I apologize.

What I meant by my comment about male jealousy was only that I *really* honestly don't get why people don't like him. Everyone on the site seemed to be a fan of the guy who cut his own arm off after stupidity lead him to get pinned by a boulder back when that article about a movie in his honor broke. Bear broke his back after doing something deliberately dangerous (unlike the boulder fellow) and then did something even cooler than self amputation. It seems like if you like the arm guy, you should like Bear. Literally the only explanation my mind could fathom was that some guys didn't like him because he has a well known female fan base. If that's wrong, sorry, I'm not a clinical psychologist. He just seems like a cool guy and it's dispiriting to see so many reasonable people inexplicably allied against him

I was posting from my cell and could not do so, was trying to remember your SN off the top of my head. 'Pologies

Bear Grylls once gave me a handski in a public restroom for a packet of instant oatmeal.

::incredulous face::

It's a very fun book.

I wonder what Tenzing Norgay would say about the merits of "arm guy" Vs. Bear. All I know is that he would be able to carry Bear, Bear's camera crew and equipment, arm guy, AND THE BOULDER on his back to safety. Sherpa power!

BTW:
"When China Rules the World: Fall of the west/Rise of China" (finished and wrote the paper)
"Outliers: The Story of Success" (not as good as "Tipping Point" but still fun)
"Beginning Theory" (for a lit class. The good news? I'm writing a paper about MEMENTO)
"Brain Rules" (for fun)

...and various other senior english degree things.... my next treat: "The Raw Shark Texts"

On Monday I signed up for access to my third library and I stocked up. Mr. Shivers (Kick-ass cover!) by Robert Jackson Bennett and Shakedown by Charlie Stella. I picked up one more but I can't for the life of me remember the name.

I finished The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier & Clay this morning. Yes, I teared up a couple of times.

I love Charlie Stella. His new book Charlie Porno is fantastic.

Just started Columbine. I got a hell of a lot less tail in high school than Eric Harris apparently did, and I sure didn't shoot anybody. Fuck that guy.

Just downloaded a free sample of this and will probably purchase it. Thanks!

...When its about the super-villain world. The super-hero sections are dull.

I'm starting a reread of the "Bigend" Books ("Pattern Recognition" and "Spook Country") by William Gibson in anticipation of the fall release of the third one, "Zero History".

Trying another "oral biography," this one about Joe Papp and the Public Theater.

A couple of days ago I picked up "The Cult of the Amateur" after its name-dropping in the Kevin Smith thread a few weeks ago. Really engaging read so far.

Discuss it in the thread after you finish!

http://www.chud.com/forum/showthread.php?t=122541

I concur. Not that there's a competition, but I prefer his brother's The Magicians, and superheroes are more my geek jones than Harry Potter.

I got so fed up with the main character's narcissism in The Magicians that I gave up on it not long after they arrived in Fillory. I didn't care enough about the plot to finish if it meant spending more time in his head.

And yes, I know that the fact that the lead is a complete asshole was part of Grossman's point, but it became overwhelming.

One of the book's glaring flaws, in my mind, is that Grossman never convincingly redeems the protagonist, either. He's arguing that fantasy, when used in proportion, enhances a life. I believe that but was never persuaded of it by the main character's arc.

I absolutely loved the villain, though. He was very well done.

Terry Pratchett's Unseen Academicals. It's about the school starting up a football (ie, soccer) league and while it's as funny as ever it's taking me a while to get through it. Usually I can blast through his books in a day or two but I haven't been really sucked into this one. Although it's still cracking me up whenever I sit down to read it.. the man still knows how to play on words better than anyone. Amazing that this is the 37th (!!) installment in the Discworld series and he's still finding unique topics to tackle.

Another thing I just realized is that we got screwed on the cover art, considering what they got in the UK.

I am currently reading The Irregulars and Girl with a Dragon Tatoo. I just picked up the first on my Sony Ereader this morning and am loving it, 50 pages in. The second is my book clubs' choice on paper.

I just finished Mr. White's Confession. It is definitely interesting. I think the author was shooting for greatness and missed, but he was trying. Simple giant of a man happens to know two murdered women in 1939, and the cops pin them on him. It reads like 1/2 Chandler and 1/2 diary. Some good characters, interesting ideas, but it falls flat at the end end. There is a long, long epigraph by St. Agustine that may prove to be the clue, but my Latin wasn't that good and I haven't looked it up yet.

I enjoyed it, the view from the supervillain was far more intresting. Anyone here read It's Superman? Fun fun fun

The Elmore Leonard paperbacks here are incredibly ugly. The UK puts out nice ones.

I think I'm going to go back and re-read this. I thought Quentin was an absolute douche with no redeeming qualities whatsoever, but I still felt bad for the character in the end.

I don't remember being too impressed by the villain (I guess you're referring to Martin?), because the entire build up of the book was all about villainizing the Watcher Woman, and I had a bit of a time letting go of that--and also keeping everything straight. Was she immortal? Martin aged, why didn't she?

Since there's no true recommendation thread I figured I'd post this here. I just got finished with Seeker by McDevitt and am looking for something along the vein of that book. Searching for a long lost ship of some sort, preferably sci-fi based but I wouldn't mind something taking place around current era. I know about the book I think it's Rama, about a cylinder that shows up in Earth-space and is investigated, read it a while ago though. If at all possible I'd like it to be more along the lines of exploring said ship, and not focused almost fully on the search like the Seeker. I mean, if it's good I'll read it either way, thanks!

Damn this kindle...

About half way through book one of KORGI

About to start The Lies of Locke Lamora..due to many people in this thread recommending it.

Its that weird book that's suitable for those that love fantasy and those that hate it.

This was great, wrote a paper using it last year.

Just finished both Locke Lamora books. Fantastic, great characters. Trying to get into The Steel Remains right now but may dive back into the Malazan books instead.

On audiobook, no doubt.

Haven't checked in lately, but, at the moment, I'm doing a re-read of "The Prestige" as a recent discussion on these boards kindled my interest once again.

Lemme know hoe Steel goes. I love Morgan, and I can't wait to see him do fantasy.

On a friend's recommendation I picked up Philip Reeve's Mortal Engines and Predator's Gold on the cheap. Really fun page turners. Great steampunk setting, too.

SPOILER:I thought the Watcherwoman was of the fantasy world, the personification of the passage of time (putting clocks all over everything), eternal and therefore ageless. The kids in the Fillory books were mortal, so she was naturally their nemesis, as they were literally cheating death by being there. Eventually, though, they had to grow up (which involves accepting your own mortality), which Martin refused to do, and he thusly became a perverse version of himself and a thematic analogue to the protagonist's struggle. I found the Martin reveal as the villain and the resulting battle a nice twist and much more compelling than actual Quentin arc it symbolized.

Just finished up the second book of KORGI



It's a really great series for anyone into fantasy/pembrokes. As my corgi CJ is fond of saying, "If it ain't pembroke, don't fix it!"

PS CJ was named after the press secretary from the Bartlet administration


Interestingly enough there are no words in KORGI, it's all just imagery. It's the Koyaanisqatsi of graphic novels

I am about to start listening to UNDER THE DOME on audiobook while I spring clean. Wish me luck!

Because I've been putting it off for far too long: Catcher in the Rye.

Just read John Scalzi's "Agent to the Stars," his first novel. I understand he's made a few revisions on it since he first wrote it, but... damn. I can only hope my first novel is as enjoyable.

All right, so Drood got lost and I didn't instantly replace it. I finally did and blasted through the remaining 500 or so pages, and by the end, I loved it. There were some slow chunks in the early going, but I really dug where it ended up. I know some you read it, so Spoilers:
It's a rarity to have a book with such an asshole protagonist as Wilkie Collins, and I really enjoyed that Simmons basically annihilated this guy over the course of the book. I've read the Woman in White, which added a lot, knowing his writing style, and how well it was duplicated here (hence the longish descriptions and apparently superfluous detail).

Did anyone think that Drood was real? I couldn't quite tell whether or not Simmons wanted to allow for the possibility of an ambiguous ending. As I read it, the mesmerism Dickens performed on him was the plain truth, and everything else was opium dream madness. I'm actually very annoyed I didn't figure it out earlier, as it was all there plain as day. The coolest thing about this was that the whole book I'd pretty much thought Collins was the asshole in the relationship, and it was a nice twist to find out that Dickens was pretty much just as bad as he'd been saying. And I'm still not sure what to make of the creepy hallucination bits, the child devouring monster in the stairwell in particular. The ending was terrific too.

Started The Lust Lizard of Melancholy Cove, for no other reason than I have it. Hopefully it will be quick.

Just finished Columbine. I think I want to give everyone in Colorado a hug.

Reading Richard Clarke and Robert Knake's CYBER WAR. I had no idea that Israel jammed Syria's radar when they attacked that Syrian/South Korean nuclear facility. They were almost literally caught with their pants down.

The Men Who Would Be King, about the rise and fall of Dreamworks. Hoping for some good American Beauty dirt, because fuck that movie.

Halfway through Salem's Lot, enjoying it quite a bit so far.

Having just finished reading Catcher in the Rye for the first time, I've moved on to In Search of the Third Man by Charles Drazin.

For my money, that's one of King's works that doesn't get nearly enought respect. And, in the case of the Rob Lowe TNT film, much disrespect. Are you reading the expanded edition, by any chance?

At the moment, I'm bouncing between Sir Arthur Conan Doyle's "Sherlock" stories, Sir Robert E. Howard's "The Complete Chronicles of Conan" and Sir Lev Grossman's "The Magicians".

Just finished If Chin Could Kill by Bruce Campbell. What a fun book that was.

Next's up: House of Leaves.

Umm, I'm not sure actually. The book doesn't say one way or another. It does have a prologue and an epilogue if that helps? Not sure if that's exclusive to the expanded edition or not..

No, the expanded edition is actually quite odd. The edited out bits haven't been placed directly back into the text (a la "The Stand"). Instead, they're in an appendix at the back. So, as you read, there will be a little footnote number alerting you to the existence of additional narrative at the back. It's worth checking out for some additional character beats and, especially, because King was forced to rewrite a major character's demise because the editors felt the original was too gory and macabre. The original is in the appendix.

Oh, and there are some nice illustrations.

Hmm, interesting. Maybe I'll check that out. Hopefully the added stuff isn't as worthless as it was in The Stand's expanded edition.