Author Topic: Currently Reading (2015)  (Read 12073 times)

ses

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Currently Reading (2015)
« on: January 01, 2015, 02:35:18 PM »
New Year, New Thread
"It's a fool who looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart"

http://sarahskitchenadventures.blogspot.com/

Monty

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Re: Currently Reading (2015)
« Reply #1 on: January 01, 2015, 02:50:26 PM »
Current Reading



[35% Complete]



Previous Reading

« Last Edit: February 10, 2015, 02:19:34 PM by Monty »


"And then it just becomes an industry of...cool."

Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: Currently Reading (2015)
« Reply #2 on: January 01, 2015, 03:44:27 PM »
First Lord's Fury by Jim Butcher (Book 6 the last book of the Codex Alera)

philip918

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Re: Currently Reading (2015)
« Reply #3 on: January 04, 2015, 02:45:11 PM »
A Brief History of Seven Killings by Marlon James

Dave the Necrobumper

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Re: Currently Reading (2015)
« Reply #4 on: January 04, 2015, 11:08:30 PM »
Game of Thrones 3: A Storm of Swords Part 2: Blood ad Gold

Boy what a title. So many colons.

jdc

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Re: Currently Reading (2015)
« Reply #5 on: January 05, 2015, 06:18:24 AM »
The Generalissimo: Chiang Kai-shek and the Struggle for Modern China
« Last Edit: January 05, 2015, 06:24:28 AM by jdc »
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ses

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Re: Currently Reading (2015)
« Reply #6 on: January 06, 2015, 11:20:13 PM »
I'm starting Maus tonight.  I borrowed Maus I and Maus II from my brother in law, and we go to visit them in 3 weeks, so I figured that I would try to read them beforehand.
"It's a fool who looks for logic in the chambers of the human heart"

http://sarahskitchenadventures.blogspot.com/

smirnoff

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Re: Currently Reading (2015)
« Reply #7 on: January 10, 2015, 06:32:57 PM »
Picked this back up after putting it down months ago a quarter way through. I've been really enjoying it ever since. Probably my favourite of the series so far. It's book 3.


verbALs

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Re: Currently Reading (2015)
« Reply #8 on: January 11, 2015, 03:02:38 AM »
That was the last one I read so I think I struggled through it as well. If you are going forward with the series then I'd like to hear how it goes for you. 
I used to encourage everyone I knew to make art; I don't do that so much anymore. - Banksy

smirnoff

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Re: Currently Reading (2015)
« Reply #9 on: January 13, 2015, 05:10:21 PM »
One trend I've noticed is that the books, individually and as part of a larger series, have little to no overarching destination or goal. The state of war between France, Britain, Spain, Portugal, etc, is never clearly outlined. You know the characters know, and you pick it up in vague bits and pieces through conversation, but there is never much sense of contribution... that the outcome of their encounters with other ships will have any material effect on the outcome of the war itself. And maybe that's how it was in the navy, you were primarily in it for the prize money, advancement or because you were pressed into service and had no choice. Even for the officers the war itself is simply an authorization to pursue ships of a certain flag and not others. It has nothing to do with fulfilling a larger purpose. So the stakes do tend to feel ship-wide, not global. And that takes a bit of getting used to, not having that constant sense of purpose while reading. The stakes rest entirely upon Aubrey and Maturin, to the extent that the books let you into their heads to see what hopes and dreams they have for the future. Will Jack clear his debts, find a wife, take a big prize, and survive this latest voyage? That is the extent of the larger pusuits in the books so far. And much of that is not the main focus, chapter to chapter. The chapters themselves tend to focus, in a lot of detail, on one event. A battle, a coversation, a dinner, re-fitting the ship, receiving a new lieutenant, etc. It can, from time to time, begin to feel like the characters are all simply taking things day to day. That there is no greater purpose to their being there. What's right in front of them in that moment is all there is.

I would love to know if that description is accurate to your experience with the books. Not whether you found it bad or good necessarily, just whether or not it rings true.

For me it does tend to make the books an up and down affair. If the chapter you happen to be on isn't doing it for you it can drag. On the bright side you also know that the next chapter will likely be about something entirely different.



I decided to jump right in to book 4 while I, and the story, had momentum. I do enjoy the dialogue a lot. Just that way of speaking.  :)



 

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