What did you just read?

So we have a lot of specific threads, but not everything fits in there. This is our catchall thread.


So I've posted about how I'm all about the superhero type books in the last year or so, recently readHeroby Perry Moore. I was a bit in to it before it became obvious the hero was a gay teen. Almost immediately put it down, I have no desire to read about sweaty buttsecks.. This genre(superhero books) is an obvious attractor for stories about the gays. There was another I started that within 50 pages was obviously just something trying to help gay teens be comfortable with themselves and I bailed.

But the writing here was good, and the gay stuff wasn't forced and didn't distract. So I stuck with it(so brave!). In the end it was an entertaining story about a super powered teen with issues just like any teen would have. The author never really indulged in heavy romance stuff but also didn't try to downplay the main character's gayness. He's gay, but it's dealt with just like any other teen issue would be. It's just a part of the character. And it's silly I've focused this much of the review on it when it's not that big a part of the book. I just know there's a lot of readers, like me, that would be scared off by it and I'd hate for them to miss out on a pretty good book in the genre.

I don't want to spoil much but Thom is the main character and his dad is a former superhero, one who somehow messed up and the general public reviles. Thom can heal people and he's keeping this a secret but eventually it leads to him getting a tryout for the big hero team. Hijinks ensue...
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So, questions, comments, or just any thoughts on your most recent read that doesn't fit in elsewhere.

Just (finally) read The Great Train Robbery by Michael Crichton (Jurassic Park, Rising Sun, Sphere, Congo, etc). Highly disappointing after having read several of his other books, which I enjoy. Felt like there was no real ending, and really, no point to the story other than to show off the massive research he (Crichton) did for the background/time period.

Ah well, his other books (published under his own name) are good enough to overlook this one.

Hmm, last few :

Hellenic Immortal, Gene Doucette - this one was fun and an easy read - kind of hoped for a bit more main plot progression though.

Velveteen vs the Junior Super Patriots, Seanan McGuire - about 'Velveteen' ( hero name ) - an ex-child hero with the power to bring toys to life, who left the business and is trying to make a living while avoiding being drawn back in. Much less fluffy and silly than the title sounds, I really liked this. It reminded me of Tiger and Bunny, in the heavy commercial exploitation of super powers.

Blood Trade, Faith Hunter - book 6 of the series about Jane Yellowrock, the skinshifter and bounty hunter. Mostly about cleaning up messes started in previous books. Enjoyable, on par with the rest of the series.

January Dancer, Michael Flynn - space opera about a lot of chaos caused by a mysterious alien artifact - haven't finished this one yet, may not, the 'voice' of the narration bugs me a bit.

Three Parts Dead, Max Gladstone - this was an original and excellent read. In the world in this one magic is all about making deals and contracts - the sorcerers are essentially a bunch of rather nasty and unethical lawyers. A disgraced student is given a second chance by a partner in one of the more prestigous firms when they investigate the unexpected death of a god that is heavily relied on to keep the world's largest city running.

Darkness Becomes Her, Kelly Keaton - entertaining but the main character is way too thick to be credible.

Eight Million Gods, Wen Spencer - thoroughly enjoyed this read about prophecy, japanese gods and international criminal organisations.

Just finished a comic series called The Boys. Really fantastic stuff, about a CIA black ops group that monitors superheroes. Kindle is so damn handy.

Just finished Hemlock Grove, the book that was source for the new netflix series. I was surprised how much the show stuck with the book and it hella cleared up some issues I had with the show, which rarely happens. The book flows kinda choppy though, and it would've bothered me if I didn't drink so much wine while pushing through it.

Overall, it was a neat universe and I"ll read any additional material that takes place in it.

reading A Storm of Swords at the moment.

i recommend kurt vonnegut to anyone who hasn't read his stuff. Breakfast of Champions is a short, kind of weird, satisfying novel.

Quantum Psychology - Robert Anton Wilson
Lately I have really been getting into his writings and interviews.

Recently finished Dark Mission: the secret history of NASA by Richard Hoagland. Interesting read at times even if a bit far fetched.

Just started the new Salvatore book The Last Threshold and Stiff by Mary Roach.

I made a thread about them on FoH, can't find a cached version though. Go ahead and start one here. Most of what I found was from picking and choosing through 2 Goodreads lists I stumbled on, plus torrent availability.

http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/1...Graphic_Novels
http://www.goodreads.com/list/show/3...erhero_Fiction

A bit different than what people are used to reading but, THINK AND GROW RICH - Napoleon Hill. At first, I figured the way the guy generates the money that he does was due to the book sales but realized that the material in the book is actually interesting. Always interesting to understand how the very upper class thinks.

This thread.

Just ran through about a dozen Clive Cussler books. Nothing highly literary, but fun and easy reads.
Suprised there hasn't been more movies made of his stuff. The one that was (Sahara?) was pretty damn dismal, but there's some great adventure in his books.

Think I'll dig out some David Brin next. Love the Uplift series.

Wolves of the Calla

Feanor_sl said:

reading A Storm of Swords at the moment.

i recommend kurt vonnegut to anyone who hasn't read his stuff. Breakfast of Champions is a short, kind of weird, satisfying novel.

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I wouldn't start with Breakfast of Champions if you've never read Kurt before. I'd go with Slaughterhouse Five, Cat's Cradle or Sirens of Titan, first. Or fuck, just gohereand readHarrison Bergeron(very short story) and see if you like it.

What I just read -Rise and Fall of the Third Reich.Long as fuck but a really great read.

Vvoid_sl said:

Grimmlokk,

I'm very interested in the superhero genre as well, but haven't had a lot of luck finding much that really stood out to me.

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Here's a recent one.

In Hero Years... I'm Deadby Michael A. Stackpole

In this one we start with the main character returning to the city of his youth and glory days. We're given almost no information and the backstory is doled out sparingly over the entire length of the book. Basically he's middle aged now and he wants to get back in to being a hero. It doesn't take long before he comes to the realization that not only has the world changed wildly in his absence, but that that heroing is a young man's game.

I really like books where the city is like another character(early Vlad Taltos books, most Discworld books) and this book falls comfortably in to that category. Capital City has changed while our hero was gone. Crime and crime fighting are basically entertainment now. There's entire industries built around them with normal citizens basically playing fantasy football based on the heroes performances. Through the story we meet a lot of the "Golden Age" heroes of the city, now moving on in retirement. There's obvious Superman, Batman, Catwoman etc parallels. There's no attempt to hide who they are, even their normal names are made similar(Selena Kyle = Selene Kole). It's a nice nod to the comic characters, but that's all it is. They are their own characters within the book.

Most of it follows the main character as he tries to adjust to mundane life while all around him the world seems to be trying to pull him back in to his old life. It took me a bit to get in to it but by the end I was absolutely devouring the book and couldn't wait to see what would happen next. So...yeah. I liked it=P Comic dorks should definitely give it a read, and probably read the little afterword by the author talking about the creation of the book.

Picking up the Wolf of Wall Street by Jordan Belfort. Pretty good read if you are into hookers and coke.

I'd kind of like some details on the books folks have recently read rather than just a title. If you can't be bothered to write your own synopsis at least link to the book on Amazon/Goodreads/Wiki.

The idea here is to either steer people towards or away from a book, a one sentence "I read this, it had this" review isn't adding anything.