Author Topic: The Best Thing We've Read All Year {2011 Edition}  (Read 7894 times)

Junior

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Re: The Best Thing We've Read All Year {2011 Edition}
« Reply #20 on: January 01, 2012, 10:39:17 PM »
I've listened to both Harry Potter versions. They're both great. I think the Fry ones are more popular in the UK and her various nations, where the Dale versions are more popular in the US. I'm a big fan of audiobooks because I listen to them to go to sleep. I wouldn't listen to a book I really care about, but that's very few books per year. I've only had one bad audiobook experience, with A Game of Thrones. That guy is the worst.
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Re: The Best Thing We've Read All Year {2011 Edition}
« Reply #21 on: January 01, 2012, 11:08:42 PM »
I've listened to both Harry Potter versions. They're both great. I think the Fry ones are more popular in the UK and her various nations, where the Dale versions are more popular in the US. I'm a big fan of audiobooks because I listen to them to go to sleep. I wouldn't listen to a book I really care about, but that's very few books per year. I've only had one bad audiobook experience, with A Game of Thrones. That guy is the worst.

I tried Obama's "Dreams of My Father" while commuting.  Couldn't get into it.  I'll give it another try (with another book) some day.  I don't disavow the medium, just think it's a different experience.  Pretty sure Clovis and I are on the same page.
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Re: The Best Thing We've Read All Year {2011 Edition}
« Reply #22 on: January 01, 2012, 11:16:37 PM »
I've had some bad experiences with audio books, but the Harry Potter series has been great.  Ideathy and I will be starting book 7, and then we'll be done.  Once that's done, I will have read, listened to and watched all the HP series.

And I agree, the experiences are completely different.  I have the tendency to not have time to read, but when I do, I fall asleep-- sometimes.  My best reading is done via audio.  Although, now I have a Kindle and that might allow me to catch some books here and there.
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Re: The Best Thing We've Read All Year {2011 Edition}
« Reply #23 on: January 01, 2012, 11:20:41 PM »
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verbALs

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Re: The Best Thing We've Read All Year {2011 Edition}
« Reply #24 on: January 02, 2012, 04:26:13 AM »
I've listened to both Harry Potter versions. They're both great. I think the Fry ones are more popular in the UK and her various nations, where the Dale versions are more popular in the US. I'm a big fan of audiobooks because I listen to them to go to sleep. I wouldn't listen to a book I really care about, but that's very few books per year. I've only had one bad audiobook experience, with A Game of Thrones. That guy is the worst.

I tried Obama's "Dreams of My Father" while commuting.  Couldn't get into it.  I'll give it another try (with another book) some day.  I don't disavow the medium, just think it's a different experience.  Pretty sure Clovis and I are on the same page.
I have had a lot of very good experiences with audiobooks. If the reader is a good one, then the experience is on a par with reading it yourself. It depends on the situation. I have a job where I can listen to large chunks of a book on the move uninterrupted, which is probably the key factor. I've had very good experiences with Solaris & The Great Gatsby. Also I would never have even attempted to read The Da Vinci Code, but I managed that piece of schlock on audio, and the historical religious parts were interesting enough to overcome the basement level chase story that it was draped over. Listening to Keith Richards and Johnny Depp reading Richards' autobiog definitely added to the experience (hilariously sometimes).

So I generally tend to listen to books outside of my usual fields of interest; classics being one of those at the moment.

There are so many wonderful books out there, and such little time to sit down and read properly, that denying yourself the opportunity to increase your experience with books in any way is an opportunity missed from my pov.

The audiobooks I have lined up currently are;

The Boy Who Followed Ripley- Patricia Highsmith
Dandelion Wine- Ray Bradbury
Hard Times - Dickens

I wouldn't get to any of these before the five or so books I have lined up to read, so I'm maximising my opportunity here.
« Last Edit: January 02, 2012, 04:27:49 AM by verbALs »
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Re: The Best Thing We've Read All Year {2011 Edition}
« Reply #25 on: January 02, 2012, 05:20:15 AM »
Extremely Loud & Incredibly Close was probably my favorite read last year.
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GothamCity151

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Re: The Best Thing We've Read All Year {2011 Edition}
« Reply #26 on: January 03, 2012, 04:08:09 AM »
Action Comics #1-4 (Grant Morrison/Rags Morales)- DC
Animal Man #1-4 (Jeff Lemire/Travel Foreman)- DC
Aquaman #1-4 (Geoff Johns/Ivan Reis)- DC
Batman #1-4 (Scott Snyder/Greg Capullo)- DC
Frankenstein Agent of SHADE #1-4 (Jeff Lemire/Alberto Ponticelli)- DC
Swamp Thing #1-4 (Scott Snyder/Yanick Paquette)- DC
Wonder Woman #1-4 (Brian Azzarello/Cliff Chiang)- DC

Yeah. These were really awesome. Out of them, despite my Batman bias, I do have to say Animal Man has been my favorite book of the relaunch.

I'd also throw in some love for Deathstroke, Green Lantern, Justice League, The Flash, and (to a lesser extent) Daniel's Detective run.

Detective Comics #873-881 (Scott Snyder/Jock and Francesco Francavilla)- DC

I know everyone is falling over themselves about this run, and I am sure down the road I will pick this up. It's just that the Dick Grayson wearing the cowl REALLY does not sit right with me.


But the best first-time read for me in 2011 was Batman: Noël by Lee Bermejo.

StudentOFilm

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Re: The Best Thing We've Read All Year {2011 Edition}
« Reply #27 on: January 03, 2012, 01:54:44 PM »
Action Comics #1-4 (Grant Morrison/Rags Morales)- DC
Animal Man #1-4 (Jeff Lemire/Travel Foreman)- DC
Aquaman #1-4 (Geoff Johns/Ivan Reis)- DC
Batman #1-4 (Scott Snyder/Greg Capullo)- DC
Frankenstein Agent of SHADE #1-4 (Jeff Lemire/Alberto Ponticelli)- DC
Swamp Thing #1-4 (Scott Snyder/Yanick Paquette)- DC
Wonder Woman #1-4 (Brian Azzarello/Cliff Chiang)- DC

Yeah. These were really awesome. Out of them, despite my Batman bias, I do have to say Animal Man has been my favorite book of the relaunch.

I'd also throw in some love for Deathstroke, Green Lantern, Justice League, The Flash, and (to a lesser extent) Daniel's Detective run.

Detective Comics #873-881 (Scott Snyder/Jock and Francesco Francavilla)- DC

I know everyone is falling over themselves about this run, and I am sure down the road I will pick this up. It's just that the Dick Grayson wearing the cowl REALLY does not sit right with me.


But the best first-time read for me in 2011 was Batman: Noël by Lee Bermejo.

Guys like Geoff Johns, Ed Brubaker, and Matt Fraction I always take for granted as I usually like what they write, but yeah- Johns' Green Lantern/JLA/Flash (as well as Manapul's follow-up) deserve some love.

I still need to read Noel, but I recommend just looking at Grayson's Batman era as him just filling Bruce's shoes until Bruce came back or something else happened. The world needs a Batman!
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FifthCityMuse

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Re: The Best Thing We've Read All Year {2011 Edition}
« Reply #28 on: January 05, 2012, 08:22:53 PM »
Infinite Jest

Worth the three months it took. Very strong honourable mention to

The Commonwealth Saga by Peter F Hamilton

The first time I've read sci-fi and wanted to live in that future. Also the most realistic vision of where humanity may be in 300 years I've ever come across.

verbALs

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Re: The Best Thing We've Read All Year {2011 Edition}
« Reply #29 on: January 06, 2012, 01:13:49 AM »
The Commonwealth Saga by Peter F Hamilton

The first time I've read sci-fi and wanted to live in that future. Also the most realistic vision of where humanity may be in 300 years I've ever come across.
I read a hokey Hamilton book about people being frightened out of their bodies. It did not make me want to continue with this so called acclaimed series (if you know Hamilton you will know what books I'm talking about). Not that he wrote badly, so would this be a better example of his work?

btw has anyone here read Iain M Banks? If not you really should.
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