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Pit Book/Discussion Thread

It was excellent, child orgy notwithstanding. King is a great palate cleanser, especially after slogging through Knausgaard for much of late last year. I appreciate his indulgences so much more than literary types these days. I�ve started Manhattan Beach, The Killing of the Blood Moon, and Barthes�s �Letters� and none have really grabbed me yet. I also found Underground Railroad a bit of a chore.

Yeah, I just read Pet Sementary and it was good. Kong’s novels are like 95% foreplay and 5% sexy time but I still enjoy most of the ones I’ve read. The Stand was probably the best then It and Salem’s Lot.
 
Yeah, I just read Pet Sementary and it was good. Kong’s novels are like 95% foreplay and 5% sexy time but I still enjoy most of the ones I’ve read. The Stand was probably the best then It and Salem’s Lot.

I'm a big fan of most of King's work. Pet Semetary is a great story, but I can't stomach it once I became a parent. The grief of the father and the description of the funeral and the grave robbing scene are just too real.
 
Anyone here read the Wheel of Time series? I’m not generally into fantasy/sci-fi but read the first book (The Eye of the World) and it’s a pretty compelling world overall.
 
I know some people who stan for Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, but I've never read any. I tried to get into Sanderson's first Mistborn book, but couldn't hang.

I read a bit of Stephen King when I was a kid; It remains the most scared I have ever been reading a book, and I got totally lost in The Stand. I loved that thing. This was middle school, I think. I also got pretty freaked out by some Clive Barker around the same time, if I recall.
 
Anyone here read the Wheel of Time series? I’m not generally into fantasy/sci-fi but read the first book (The Eye of the World) and it’s a pretty compelling world overall.

I've read the first 4 and they all have very similar pacing to the first one. It's definitely slow at times, as Jordan loves to paint his world with crazy environmental detail to really set a scene. As you may have noticed, his style is definitely more a Tolkien-esque than GRRM. For Tolkien and Jordan, it's all about the journey. You're not going to have twists and turns like GRRM, more of a giant adventure. Not to mention, fifteen 600+ page books is just a lot for even the most devout fantasy readers

A friend of mine, who loves the series, warned me that it gets slower through the middle before getting a breath of life with the new author after Jordan's passing. It's definitely a HUGE world, but the story through 4 books is pretty epic. If they were only 500 pages apiece, I'd recommend them to anyone, but after book 3 they start being over 900 pages for a while.

I plan on picking them back up one day (have set them down for a little over a year now) but fully realize that I'm going to have to spend a week reading summaries just to catch back up to what is going on.

All in all, I'd say if you enjoyed the 1st one, go ahead and read the second one. I can't speak past the 4th, but will say those are at least as good, if not better than the first one.


(Sorry for posting several times and deleting. The editing feature wasn't working)
 
Anyone here read the Wheel of Time series? I’m not generally into fantasy/sci-fi but read the first book (The Eye of the World) and it’s a pretty compelling world overall.

I wouldn't bother. Jordan began to falter around the middle of the series, briefly recovered before passing, and then Sanderson barfed all over it
 
Yeah the first book reminded me of LOTR quite a bit particularly the shire setting. I may read another book or two and see if I’m interested in plodding ahead. Thanks.
 
All Liu Cixin's trilogy are absolute must reads if yr into hard sci-fi.
 
I know some people who stan for Robert Jordan and Brandon Sanderson, but I've never read any. I tried to get into Sanderson's first Mistborn book, but couldn't hang.

I read a bit of Stephen King when I was a kid; It remains the most scared I have ever been reading a book, and I got totally lost in The Stand. I loved that thing. This was middle school, I think. I also got pretty freaked out by some Clive Barker around the same time, if I recall.

You made the right call on mistborn, just okay imo. The way of kings has been on my shelf for a couple years now, not sure I’ll ever get around it. Still waiting for the next great fantasy series. Nk jemisons latest trilogy was pretty good, but prob not for everyone. My guy pat rothfuss needs to finish his next book already.
 
You made the right call on mistborn, just okay imo. The way of kings has been on my shelf for a couple years now, not sure I’ll ever get around it. Still waiting for the next great fantasy series. Nk jemisons latest trilogy was pretty good, but prob not for everyone. My guy pat rothfuss needs to finish his next book already.

Was going to mention The Kingkiller Chronicles, but you're obviously on that. Id check out The Gentleman Bastards. It's the next best thing.
 
Two Dollar Radio out of Columbus, Ohio is my favorite indie press these days

Currently loving The Deeper the Water the Uglier the Fish by Katya Apekina
 
Picked up the collection of Wright Thompson stories and have been breezing through that. Imagine most are familiar with his work but he’s just an absolute fantastic writer who did the story about Tiger training with SEALs and profiled Jordan at 50, New Orleans after Katrina, etc.
 
Just finished Chernow's Grant biography. As anyone who has read Chernow knows, he is one of those historians who has the ability to place you in the room with his subject, through a combination of excellent research and story telling, he provides a fully fleshed out picture of Grant. However, there were times where it seemed Chernow was trying to see how many times he could cram the words drunk and alcoholic into the book, even if the point was to disprove stories. If you took a shot every time Chernow mentioned Grant's drinking, you would be dead by Vicksburg. Throughout the book, he ham handily attempts to push the narrative of Grant's over trusting nature throughout his life leading to the scandals of his presidency, but this theory loses steam, when you see how few close friends he had, and how quickly he fired under performing Generals. The Grant family does not come across well either, especially US's father and wife, though rightfully so.

All in all, the book is excellent and shows a complex character, who was lost until his mid 30's, rose quickly through his successes in the civil war, and then was ultimately out of place in the political sphere. I was particularly interested in the relationship between Grant and Sherman, who at time seemed like best friends, but often did not agree.
 
I searched the thread for any discussion of it and didn't find any--I just finished H is for Hawk by Helen Macdonald. I really loved it. There were some slow parts and some overwhelmingly sad parts, but it's a really unique writing style and she's a very good writer for an academic.

I also bought...way too many books at Powell's in Portland.

Finished The Innocent Man (Grisham) and Pet Sematary (King) that my dad lent me on vacation. Good vacation reads.
 
finished the last of Elena Ferrante's Neopolitan Quartet -- books are very good, but I'm ready for something else

started Nicotine by Nell Zink -- she's a wild writer, man
 
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