The Zone

by **Bloo** on Tue Apr 26, 2011 6:58 pm

my biggest complaint about THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE is that part of the book feels very disjointed the trip to Jamaica, the hurricane, the new tits...that last part espically didn't feel like Lisette

Once the book got rolling it was good, but getting to that point was a chore

by **justcheckin** on Tue Apr 26, 2011 8:42 pm

Thanks guys, I probably will start The Girl Who Played with Fire but I need a couple nights sleep first. hahaha It sucks that the author died, the book was really intricate and it would be cool to have had more from him than the 3 books.

by **TheBaxter** on Wed Apr 27, 2011 9:38 am

Bloo wrote: the new tits.

dammit, how did that get left out of the movie?

by **Bloo** on Wed Apr 27, 2011 1:13 pm

TheBaxter wrote:
Bloo wrote: the new tits.

dammit, how did that get left out of the movie?

good question

by **Wolfpack** on Wed May 04, 2011 9:10 pm

Book 4 of 4 in H@rry Turtledove's Worldwar saga, Striking the Balance .

by **The Vicar** on Wed May 04, 2011 9:13 pm

You had me at "new tits".......seriously.

by **TheBaxter** on Thu May 05, 2011 8:48 am

"The New Tits" would make a most excellent band name.

by **Ribbons** on Thu May 05, 2011 1:46 pm

Bloo wrote:my biggest complaint about THE GIRL WHO PLAYED WITH FIRE is that part of the book feels very disjointed the trip to Jamaica, the hurricane, the new tits...that last part espically didn't feel like Lisette

Once the book got rolling it was good, but getting to that point was a chore

I actually enjoyed the prologue-y stuff in Grenada, but yeah, I thought the boob job was pretty random. Also I remember being annoyed at the contrived falling out she had with Blomkvist.

*

I just finished reading a super-short book by Ian McEwan called On Chesil Beach that I thought was good. The two main characters are written with such compassion and complexity, both as individuals and as a couple, and there's a certain awkwardness and sweetness to their relationship before it sours. Like most McEwan stories it's incredibly depressing, but a hell of a read nonetheless.

And I just started reading Team of Rivals by Doris Kearns Goodwin, about the relationship Abraham Lincoln maintains with the candidates he upset to win the presidential nomination in 1860. I'm only about 47 pages in (actually exactly 47 pages in), but the depth of research and attention to detail are astounding.

by **The Vicar** on Thu May 05, 2011 8:05 pm

Re-reading Catch 22 for about the I don't know how manyth time....Clevinger's trial in front of the Colonel with the Big studly Moustache is still frakking hi-larious.....

by **Cpt Kirks 2pay** on Thu May 05, 2011 9:16 pm

Reading Ernest Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls.

Well kinda. I get a bit depressed that I can't be bothered to read sometimes. So I don't.

by **minstrel** on Fri May 06, 2011 12:43 am

Cpt Kirks 2pay wrote:Reading Ernest Hemingway's For Whom The Bell Tolls.

Well kinda. I get a bit depressed that I can't be bothered to read sometimes. So I don't.

That's one of my favorites! Still a fresh and original take on war, and the characterizations are brilliant. Enjoy!

by **Hermanator X** on Fri May 06, 2011 6:21 am

Seems to be a lot of love for the Stieg Larsson books here.

If your after some more Scandic flavour, I believe Jo Nesbø is supposed to be a good read.
I havent tried them myself, but heard mainly good things about him. Particularly the Harry Hole series.

I was kicking around in Sødermalm last weekend, so hung around some of the millenium gangs haunts. (Not in a geeky "oh lets go to this place from the book" way its just a cool area to kick about.) mmmmm Reindeer stew.... A fun weekend.

Anyway, back on topic.
As I was flying I finally got access to some halfway decent bookstores, so stocked up on a few.
Iain M Banks: Surface Detail. His new "culture" space opera. Ive been a fan for years, and this one seems to start well, even though I have no blimmin idea what is going on. (I tend to buy his without reviews, or even reading the jackets, so I go in literally clueless)

A Game of Thrones: Havent read any of these, but kind of hankering for a nice deep fantasy world to lose myself in.

Unseen Academicals: Terry Pratchett. Missed a few of his recent books, considering how I used to consume them. But after picking up "THUD!" to read again off the shelf recently im keen to get back into them. (Seriously, THUD! is awesome.)

House of Suns: Alastair Reynolds. Another nice dose of scifi (actually I might have picked up Terminal World, I remember weighing each book up before purchase but not sure which one I bought. )

So all in all, quite a geeky little haul!

by **Wolfpack** on Thu May 12, 2011 9:21 pm

Reading "Between the Rivers" by H@rry Turtledove.

by **DennisMM** on Thu May 12, 2011 10:45 pm

The Big Rewind: A Memoir Brought to You By Popular Culture, by A.V. Club head writer Nathan Rabin. He ties critical moments in his life to bits of popular culture he finds important -- Girl, Interrupted, Sullivan's Travels, In Utero connect to time in a mental ward, group home residency, Hassidim summer camp (he was a reform Jew), girlfriends and joining The Onion. It's a bit of a flat read, given the emotional adventures Rabin has had, but I'm still fairly early in.

by **Spandau Belly** on Sat May 14, 2011 10:56 pm

Paying For It: A Comic Strip Memoir About Being a John
by Chester Brown

This is a comic stip retelling of every hooker Chester Brown has hired. I really relate to Chester Brown. I remember reading I Never Liked You as a teenager for the first time and it really deeply touched me and still does. That book takes like 20 minutes to read and so I pick it up and re-read it all the time. Paying For It is done in the same dry autobiographical style, and the results are pretty good. Sadly, he introduces the book saying that he has omitted lots of details to protect the identities of the various hookers. Chester himself says that he has had many interesting, funny, and touching (go ahead, make your joke) conversations with prostitutes and learned a lot about them, the reasons they do what they do and how their careers fit into their lives, and their experiences. Brown admits that these conversations would've made the book more interesting but he did not want say anything that could reveal these women's identities.

The book turns out to be a very clinical analysis of not only prostitution, but also on society's views on romantic love. It's well argued (but he was preaching to the converted seeing as I already agreed with 99% of what he said before I started reading the book and still don't agree with him on 1%). The book stays on topic like usual, Brown's depiction of himself is part of the fascination.

I did not know what Canada's laws on prostitution were, I'd never really looked into it. I thought it was illegal, but then found it weird that hookers were advertising in regular newspapers. According to this book, it's actually streetwalkers who were illegal, but call-up escorts were legal, so that explains it. Brown notes that as he was completing this book, those laws were being revised and I'm sure our new Conservative government will be sure to pass a bunch of laws persecuting hookers and johns instead of doing something useful.

I definately recommend this book for any fan of Brown's work. If you've never read any of Brown's work, I recommend starting with I Never Liked You and if you really liked that book, check out this one.

by **caruso_stalker217** on Sun May 15, 2011 4:49 am

I'm reading Not Bad For A Human. Lance Henriksen is a god.

by **Bloo** on Sun May 15, 2011 12:00 pm

The Angel of Darkness by Caleb Carr, why a) they were never able to make a movie of The Alienest and this I don't know b) why Carr has never written a third book in this series I don't know either, but I wish he would.

by **Al Shut** on Sun May 15, 2011 12:53 pm

Found gigantic stack of my old Dragonlance novels, some of whom I could swear I haven't read before

by **Nice Marmot** on Tue May 24, 2011 4:22 pm

Finally reading A Storm of Swords by George R.R. Martin. Just finished Sam's chapter of The Fist of the First Men.

Kicked much ass!!!

by **Bloo** on Tue May 24, 2011 4:27 pm

Here, There Be Dragons by James A Owen

by **Wolfpack** on Wed May 25, 2011 8:11 pm

A World of Difference by H@rry Turtledove

by **Ribbons** on Sat Jun 04, 2011 6:08 pm

In the Penal Colony, a 25-page (give or take) story by Franz Kafka about a traveler who visits a foreign encampment with an exotic torture device. It features the usual themes of judgment, disfigurement and isolation, but in a really unique way that I think helps illuminate some of Kafka's attitudes, if you're interested in the guy. Also, there was a surprising amount of gallows humor (in this case literally) for such a bleak story, mostly involving a condemned man and the soldier assigned to guard him.

by **Wolfpack** on Thu Jun 09, 2011 4:55 pm

Sentry Peak by H@rry Turtledove.

by **TheButcher** on Sat Jun 11, 2011 3:19 pm

Life by Keith Richards

by **TheButcher** on Wed Jun 29, 2011 3:20 am

SAVAGES by Don Winslow

by **minstrel** on Wed Jun 29, 2011 2:23 pm

My copy of the new issue of Paris Review arrived yesterday, so I'm reading interviews with Samuel R. Delaney and William Gibson.

by **caruso_stalker217** on Wed Jun 29, 2011 11:03 pm

Recently ordered Fletch from Amazon and it arrived today. I read it in one sitting. Ninety-percent dialogue. Just under two hundred pages. Great book.

by **Bloo** on Thu Jun 30, 2011 12:32 am

caruso_stalker217 wrote:Recently ordered Fletch from Amazon and it arrived today. I read it in one sitting. Ninety-percent dialogue. Just under two hundred pages. Great book.

I went on a Fletch buying spree a couple of weeks ago and picked up all 11(?) books for my kindle

by **caruso_stalker217** on Thu Jun 30, 2011 12:58 am

I might have to invest in one of those things. I'd like to dive into the rest of the books, but I'm really lousy about reading these days.

by **Bloo** on Thu Jun 30, 2011 2:35 am

caruso_stalker217 wrote:I might have to invest in one of those things. I'd like to dive into the rest of the books, but I'm really lousy about reading these days.

I'm reading more then I ever have with it

by **Ribbons** on Thu Jun 30, 2011 6:00 am

TheButcher wrote:SAVAGES by Don Winslow

The reviews for this book have piqued my curiosity. And beginning a pulpy crime novel with "fuck you" takes chutzpah! I don't know much about the author but I think I'm going to pick it up (or at least flip through a few pages and then pick it up) next time I go to the bookstore.

by **Wolfpack** on Fri Jul 01, 2011 10:55 pm

American Empire: The Center Cannot Hold by H@rry Turtledove (been reading a lot of his books of late, I know, but they're soooo good.)

It's the second part of a trilogy set after a World War I that was fought between the Confederate States and the USA. Of course, the backstory of that is that the South won.

by **DennisMM** on Mon Jul 04, 2011 8:33 pm

Idiot America, by Charles S. Pierce. It's another of those, "Why are Americans so gullible and stupid?" tomes. While not as interesting as I'd hoped, it has its merits. Each chapter begins with a look back at what Pierce considers the plain sense and respect for knowledge demonstrated for President James Madison.

When that's done, I'll re-read Who Censored Roger Rabbit?, which was the inspiration for the hugely successful film but hasn't much in common with it. I prefer the book, though the movie is very charming.

by **tapehead** on Tue Jul 05, 2011 5:05 am

Ribbons wrote:In the Penal Colony, a 25-page (give or take) story by Franz Kafka about a traveler who visits a foreign encampment with an exotic torture device. It features the usual themes of judgment, disfigurement and isolation, but in a really unique way that I think helps illuminate some of Kafka's attitudes, if you're interested in the guy. Also, there was a surprising amount of gallows humor (in this case literally) for such a bleak story, mostly involving a condemned man and the soldier assigned to guard him.

It's interesting - I've always had a really specific interpretations of this story - in that it concerns the mnemonics involved in corporal punishment and discipline - the way that pain creates memory. So I've always looked at it like it's a story about prison or more generally, as you say, isolation, loneliness and yeah, judgement.

You might also change how you feel about tattoos after reading this.

by **Ye Black Knight** on Mon Jul 11, 2011 4:41 am

Forsooth! This knight be'ith reading a classic tome: Savage Sword of Conan Volume 1! Authored by Sir Roy Thomas, inspired by Robert E Howard's tales of ye Cimmerian, and lavishly rendered by Sir Barry Windsor Smith, Sir John Buscema and many others.

Not only shall this knight advocate for this opus with his highest esteem, so shall this knight shower thee with disdain if thine hath not read it!

This post now concludeth!

by **TheButcher** on Fri Jul 22, 2011 2:42 pm

Beneath blossom rain : discovering Bhutan on the toughest trek in the world
by Kevin Grange

Conversations with Scorsese
by Martin Scorsese

Robopocalypse
by Daniel H. Wilson

by **caruso_stalker217** on Wed Aug 24, 2011 1:35 am

Read The Princess Bride for the first time. Pretty good, but the stuff about Goldman's fictitious personal life gets a bit tiresome.

by **justcheckin** on Thu Aug 25, 2011 9:44 pm

I just read The Help because I wanted to read it before I went to the theater. It was really good, I hope the movie is too.

by **Bloo** on Fri Aug 26, 2011 12:08 am

on book 10 out of the 11 Fletch books by Gregory McDonald. I'd read a few of them prior but this is my first time going through all of them in Chronological order

by **Hermanator X** on Fri Aug 26, 2011 2:03 am

Ribbons wrote:
TheButcher wrote:SAVAGES by Don Winslow

The reviews for this book have piqued my curiosity. And beginning a pulpy crime novel with "fuck you" takes chutzpah! I don't know much about the author but I think I'm going to pick it up (or at least flip through a few pages and then pick it up) next time I go to the bookstore.

Ive read The Power of the Dog, and Dawn Patrol by him. Both very good reads, especially the exceedingly brutal Dog, but Dawn Patrol is a good romp too.

by **DennisMM** on Sat Aug 27, 2011 7:17 pm

About to start Down and Out in Paris and London, by George Orwell. I bought a copy nearly 25 years ago while visiting Kansas City, promptly left it there and never went back for it. Bit of a shame, really.

by **minstrel** on Sat Aug 27, 2011 7:42 pm

DennisMM wrote:About to start Down and Out in Paris and London, by George Orwell. I bought a copy nearly 25 years ago while visiting Kansas City, promptly left it there and never went back for it. Bit of a shame, really.

I need to start reading Orwell. I read Keep the Aspidistra Flying a long long time ago, and really enjoyed it, but for some reason I didn't read any more of his stuff. I guess I'm going to have to fire up the ol' Kindle and download Orwell.

by **Spandau Belly** on Sun Aug 28, 2011 12:41 pm

Dishwasher
by Pete Jordan

This book is a memoir about one man's failed attempt to work as a dishwasher in all 50 of USA's states. I have never worked in the restaurant business and so I found that aspect of the book pretty informative. Pete does a decent job capturing some of the local flavor of the various places he travels to. The funniest is when he encounters racism in Louisiana where nobody will hire him because they consider dishwashing black man's work. A white guy even calls Pete racist because in trying to work as a dishwasher he's "trying to steal a black man's job".

Pete also includes some interesting research into the history of dishwashing as a profession. He digs up some fun facts about dishwasher's unions and famous people who worked as dishwashers.

The downside of the book is the writer's personality. He is a frustrating and narcissistic slacker. He's one of those guys who works harder at avoiding work than it would take to just fucking do what he's being asked. Also, his attitude of "fuck The Man" is more like "fuck everybody". When he's being bossed around by some annoying middlemanagement asshole on a powertrip and he quits on the spot or whatever, I was fine with that. But there's lots of times when people really put themselves out for him and really fucks them over. Like when he worked as dishwasher at an Alaskan salmon cannery. It was a seasonal unionized job and so he got payed really well and got benefits. The boss agreed to let him come back the next season and start early when there was no work to be done, so basically he would be getting payed for a couple weeks of doing nothing. The boss guy even let him falsify his hours so he would get overtime for hours he didn't work. But Pete just spends his time looking for ways to injure himself so he can leave and get paid disability because he's bored of being in Alaska. When he fails to injure himself, he just quits and leaves the nice boss guy fucked for the season.

Pete constantly references Charles Bukwoski but is neither as good a writer or as interesting a person. Bukwoski was fascinating because he despised himself and didn't put on airs about having a code the way Pete pretends to.

So overall, this is an okay memoir book. I don't give it a big recommendation because the writer isn't that talented and has an annoying personality, but it's a decent quick read.

by **Bloo** on Sun Aug 28, 2011 3:14 pm

Fletch-Fletch Reflected
11 books by Gregory McDonald

Over the years I have been wanting to get all the Fletch books but never have until I got my Kindle (thanks by the way to all the Zoners that have recommended getting one when I asked awhile back). It's interesting to read how Mcdonald balances so many different "eras" of Fletch's career. The dialog remains crisp and sharp from Fletch clear through to Fletch Reflected. and McDonald plays with some interesting thoughts about the arts (Fletch's Moxie) and politics (Fletch and the Man Who) and even weight loss (Fletch Reflected). My major complaint is that he has character's talk about characters or characters are introduced that I feel I should know about but don't because he has not given any background. It's almost as if he wanted to write more "prequel" novels so he planted seeds that would eventually all be tied together. This is particularly prevelent in the last two books (Son of Fletch and Fletch Reflected). I will say that, as a writer, I've always felt I had a strong ear for dialog, but McDonald's, much like Elmore Leonard, puts me to shame and by reading their work I can learn how to write better.

by **DennisMM** on Sun Aug 28, 2011 3:46 pm

minstrel wrote:
DennisMM wrote:About to start Down and Out in Paris and London, by George Orwell. I bought a copy nearly 25 years ago while visiting Kansas City, promptly left it there and never went back for it. Bit of a shame, really.

I need to start reading Orwell. I read Keep the Aspidistra Flying a long long time ago, and really enjoyed it, but for some reason I didn't read any more of his stuff. I guess I'm going to have to fire up the ol' Kindle and download Orwell.

He was a talented novelist, but a minor one apart from Nineteen Eighty-Four. The nonfiction is the way to go. Down and Out and Homage to Catalonia are generally considered to be masterpieces. His short nonfiction (that was known when the books were published -- more came to light decades later) is in four volumes as The Collected Essays, Letters and Journalism. All are worth a look. Reading them opens windows on his personality and his politics. Anyone who has read much of him can laugh sardonically at the idea that he hated socialism.

by **minstrel** on Sun Aug 28, 2011 3:58 pm

DennisMM wrote:
minstrel wrote:
DennisMM wrote:About to start Down and Out in Paris and London, by George Orwell. I bought a copy nearly 25 years ago while visiting Kansas City, promptly left it there and never went back for it. Bit of a shame, really.

I need to start reading Orwell. I read Keep the Aspidistra Flying a long long time ago, and really enjoyed it, but for some reason I didn't read any more of his stuff. I guess I'm going to have to fire up the ol' Kindle and download Orwell.

He was a talented novelist, but a minor one apart from Nineteen Eighty-Four. The nonfiction is the way to go. Down and Out and Homage to Catalonia are generally considered to be masterpieces. His short nonfiction (that was known when the books were published -- more came to light decades later) is in four volumes as The Collected Essays, Letters and Journalism. All are worth a look. Reading them opens windows on his personality and his politics. Anyone who has read much of him can laugh sardonically at the idea that he hated socialism.

His essay "Politics and the English Language" is something I reread every year or so, because a) it's damn good; and b) it reminds me of how to write. Definitely a classic. I have to read more of his nonfiction.

by **DennisMM** on Sun Aug 28, 2011 4:43 pm

That's a brilliant essay, one on which I wrote a paper while in university. (It, unfortunately, was the merest fraction as good as the essay.) Orwell is my second favorite author, after Harlan Ellison. Interestingly, Ellison's nonfiction appeals to me far more than his fiction.

by **Al Shut** on Mon Aug 29, 2011 5:12 am

Reminds me of the text for my final english exam. George Orwell on what an lazy ass student he was.

by **TheBaxter** on Mon Aug 29, 2011 10:21 am

DennisMM wrote:
minstrel wrote:
DennisMM wrote:About to start Down and Out in Paris and London, by George Orwell. I bought a copy nearly 25 years ago while visiting Kansas City, promptly left it there and never went back for it. Bit of a shame, really.

I need to start reading Orwell. I read Keep the Aspidistra Flying a long long time ago, and really enjoyed it, but for some reason I didn't read any more of his stuff. I guess I'm going to have to fire up the ol' Kindle and download Orwell.

He was a talented novelist, but a minor one apart from Nineteen Eighty-Four. The nonfiction is the way to go. Down and Out and Homage to Catalonia are generally considered to be masterpieces. His short nonfiction (that was known when the books were published -- more came to light decades later) is in four volumes as The Collected Essays, Letters and Journalism. All are worth a look. Reading them opens windows on his personality and his politics. Anyone who has read much of him can laugh sardonically at the idea that he hated socialism.

most of those are people who either a) don't actually know what socialism is (like the majority of tea partiers and people who accuse obama of being a socialist) or b) believe socialism to be a synonym for communism.

by **Al Shut** on Tue Aug 30, 2011 1:14 pm

Inspired by NIce Marmot I looked through the bookshelf with my parents' horror anthologies looking for that stupid Koontz story and ended with John Saul's 'Comes the Blind Fury'. Do horror movies still feature creepy dark haired ghost girls? If so I'd like to see this made.