May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
4/50 The Disaster Artist - Greg Sestero and Tom Bissell. Fantastic book
5/50 How to Build a Girl - Caitlin Moran
the grand 2015 reading challenge thread
- Thread starter Pickman's model
- Start date
5/50 How to Build a Girl - Caitlin Moran
32. Kings Blades 4 Impossible Odds (which might be #5)
Yuwipi Woman
Whack-A-Mole Queen
1/27 The Universe in a Single Atom -- The Dalai Lama
2/27 The Last President -- John Barnes
3/27 Walden -- Henry David Thoreau
4/27 Walden on Wheels -- Ken Ilgunas
5/27 Walk to the End of the Word -- Suzy Charnas
6/27 Leading the Way: Asian American Artists of the Older Generation -- Paul Karstrom, et al.
7/27 Vacant - Alex Hughes
2/27 The Last President -- John Barnes
3/27 Walden -- Henry David Thoreau
4/27 Walden on Wheels -- Ken Ilgunas
5/27 Walk to the End of the Word -- Suzy Charnas
6/27 Leading the Way: Asian American Artists of the Older Generation -- Paul Karstrom, et al.
7/27 Vacant - Alex Hughes
el-ahrairah
forward communism, forward gerbils!
1. Kyme & Priestley, ed. - Tales Of Heresy
2. Steve Jackson & Ian Livingstone - Out Of The Pit
3. Mike Lee - Fallen Angels
4. Steve Jackson & Ian Livingstone - The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain
5. Stella Gibbons - Christmas At Cold Comfort Farm
6. Anne Lecki - Ancillary Justice
7. Rick Pristley - Slaves To Darkness
8. Shane McCarthy - All Hail Megatron
9. Luke Haines - Bad Vibes: Britpop And My Part In its Downfall
10. Shane McCarthy - All Hail Megatron V.2
11. Marc Gascoigne - The Trolltooth Wars
12. Ian Watson - Chaos Child
13. John French - Ahriman Sorcerer
14. Chiang Yee - The Silent Traveller In London
15. Graham McNeill - A Thousand Sons
16. Richard Saunders - If A Pirate I Must Be - The Story Of Bartholomew Roberts, King Of The Caribbean
17. Steve jackson - Citadel Of Chaos
18. Ian Livingstone - Forest Of Doom
19. Alan Grant & John Wagner - Doomlord: The Deathlords Of Nox
20. Andrew Ward - Football's Strangest Matches
21. Shane McCarthy - All Hail Megatron V.3
22. Aaron Dembski Bowden - The First Heretic
23. Ian Livingstone - City Of Thieves
24. Kent Greenfield - The Myth Of Choice
2. Steve Jackson & Ian Livingstone - Out Of The Pit
3. Mike Lee - Fallen Angels
4. Steve Jackson & Ian Livingstone - The Warlock Of Firetop Mountain
5. Stella Gibbons - Christmas At Cold Comfort Farm
6. Anne Lecki - Ancillary Justice
7. Rick Pristley - Slaves To Darkness
8. Shane McCarthy - All Hail Megatron
9. Luke Haines - Bad Vibes: Britpop And My Part In its Downfall
10. Shane McCarthy - All Hail Megatron V.2
11. Marc Gascoigne - The Trolltooth Wars
12. Ian Watson - Chaos Child
13. John French - Ahriman Sorcerer
14. Chiang Yee - The Silent Traveller In London
15. Graham McNeill - A Thousand Sons
16. Richard Saunders - If A Pirate I Must Be - The Story Of Bartholomew Roberts, King Of The Caribbean
17. Steve jackson - Citadel Of Chaos
18. Ian Livingstone - Forest Of Doom
19. Alan Grant & John Wagner - Doomlord: The Deathlords Of Nox
20. Andrew Ward - Football's Strangest Matches
21. Shane McCarthy - All Hail Megatron V.3
22. Aaron Dembski Bowden - The First Heretic
23. Ian Livingstone - City Of Thieves
24. Kent Greenfield - The Myth Of Choice
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wobbly
47. robin hobb - city of dragons
48. robin hobb - blood of dragons
49. robin hobb - fool's assassin
50. Raymond e feist - wrath of a mad god
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QueenOfGoths
Fuck you Dave!
1. "A Colder War" - Charles Cumming
2. "Sleepyhead" - Mark Billingham
3. "Lamentation"- CJ Samson
4. " The Child Thief " -Dan Smith. Very good, very moving
2. "Sleepyhead" - Mark Billingham
3. "Lamentation"- CJ Samson
4. " The Child Thief " -Dan Smith. Very good, very moving
Me76
Not very good lurker
1/50 Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk
2/50 The Child Thief, Dan Smith
3/50 Wanted, Nick Stephenson
4/50 The Graft, Martina Cole
5/50 Stardust, Neil Gaiman
6/50 Alys, Always, Harriet Lane
7/50 Bad Things Happen, K Leitch
8/50 Post Human Book 1, David Simpson - freebie sci fi. Not awful. Having a break and then I will go back and read the other 3 that came free also.
2/50 The Child Thief, Dan Smith
3/50 Wanted, Nick Stephenson
4/50 The Graft, Martina Cole
5/50 Stardust, Neil Gaiman
6/50 Alys, Always, Harriet Lane
7/50 Bad Things Happen, K Leitch
8/50 Post Human Book 1, David Simpson - freebie sci fi. Not awful. Having a break and then I will go back and read the other 3 that came free also.
braindancer
not for long
1/30 - I know why the caged bird sings - Maya Angelou
2/30 - Unknown pleasures - Peter Hook
3/30 - The Free - Willy Vlautin
2/30 - Unknown pleasures - Peter Hook
3/30 - The Free - Willy Vlautin
billy_bob
Air of bewilderment model's own
This seems to have been read by more urbs than any other book so far this year and I've yet to see a bad write-up. Might have to get a copy...
belboid
Exasperated, not angry.
Tips on how to read 195 books in a year - should anyone need any help...
billy_bob
Air of bewilderment model's own
That's all rather earnest and unambitious. Read in the bath? Gracious, what a startling new idea.
I submit the following:
- Skip big words. Come on, unless you're a total berk you're never really going to use 'egregious' in conversation - what does it matter if you're not 100% sure whether it's good or bad?
- Pick short books. Tolstoy/Dickens/Thackaray - out. Hargreaves/Inkpen/Carle - in!
- Quit your job. Like your job more than you like reading? Then you're a twat.
- Stop watching TV. After you've implemented (3), you won't be able to afford all those monthly charges anyway. Win/win!
- Stop playing games on your smartphone. Seriously - fruit? birds? candy? How fucking old are you?
- Read the same book, 195 times. Even its Finnegans Wake, you will find you inevitably speed up after the first dozen goes or so.
- Don't sell your children into slavery. You might be thinking you'd gain more reading time if you did, but just think - how long does it take to read Where the Wild Things Are to your little darlings, compared to how long it takes to plough through 800-odd pages of Bleak House?
- Amphetamines. Mmmmm, speed.
Unambitious. Anyone who can't read three 1000 page fantasy novels while at Glastonbury (say) shouldn't bother trying to beat toggle at this game.
I say this as someone who used to read really quickly, and now am going to Wood Green Library for the Ladybird section to catch up.
spartacus mills
let's wee on each other
01 Nikola Mihov: Forget Your Past: Communist-Era Monuments in Bulgaria
02 Bohumil Hrabal: Closely Observed Trains
03 Joe R Lansdale: Mucho Mojo
04 Andrew Lanyon: Circular Walks Around Rowley Hall
05 Ismail Kadare: The File on H
06 Slavoj Zizek: Trouble in Paradise – From the End of History to the End of Capitalism
07 Iceberg Slim: Pimp
08 John Grindrod: Concretopia: A Journey Around the Rebuilding of Postwar Britain
09 T R Pearson: Cry Me a River
10 J G Ballard: Concrete Island
02 Bohumil Hrabal: Closely Observed Trains
03 Joe R Lansdale: Mucho Mojo
04 Andrew Lanyon: Circular Walks Around Rowley Hall
05 Ismail Kadare: The File on H
06 Slavoj Zizek: Trouble in Paradise – From the End of History to the End of Capitalism
07 Iceberg Slim: Pimp
08 John Grindrod: Concretopia: A Journey Around the Rebuilding of Postwar Britain
09 T R Pearson: Cry Me a River
10 J G Ballard: Concrete Island
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wobbly
swap youn some of my list for some sleep
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wobbly
51. raymond e feist - at the gates of darkness
52. raymond e feist - a kingdom besieged
53. raymond e feist - a crown imperiled
54. raymond e feist - magician's end
*ouch*
I gave up on this last year because I was miles off my target of 40 books after not reading anything for ages 
Wasn't going to bother this year but I've started reading again so I'll give it a go with a slightly more realistic 20 books this time.
1/20 Proxima - Stephen Baxter
2/20 Glasgow Kiss - Alex Gray
Wasn't going to bother this year but I've started reading again so I'll give it a go with a slightly more realistic 20 books this time.
1/20 Proxima - Stephen Baxter
2/20 Glasgow Kiss - Alex Gray
33. Kings Blades 5 Jaguar Knights
34. The Tropic of Serpents, Marie Brennan (sequel to A Natural History of Dragons, and equally excellent)
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wobbly
shalln check those out for me and kids.
Think they're kid-safe. One or two deaths, some sadness, lots of rather entertaining social mores and commentary. It's set in a kind of near-British-Empire and ... yes rather enjoyed it!
35. Half a King, Joe Abercrombie.
BoatieBird
Well-Known Member
1/60 - JM Barrie - Peter Pan*
2/60 - Joe Hill - NOS4R2
3/60 - Arthur Ransome - Swallows and Amazons*
4/60 - Belinda Bauer - Rubbernecker
5/60 - Roddy Doyle - The Guts
6/60 - Phillipa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden*
7/60 - Mildred D Taylor - Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry*
8/60 - Denise Mina - Exile
9/60 - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Americanah
As mentioned by several people in the 2014 book of the year thread. Deservedly so, a great book.
2/60 - Joe Hill - NOS4R2
3/60 - Arthur Ransome - Swallows and Amazons*
4/60 - Belinda Bauer - Rubbernecker
5/60 - Roddy Doyle - The Guts
6/60 - Phillipa Pearce - Tom's Midnight Garden*
7/60 - Mildred D Taylor - Roll of Thunder, Hear my Cry*
8/60 - Denise Mina - Exile
9/60 - Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie - Americanah
As mentioned by several people in the 2014 book of the year thread. Deservedly so, a great book.
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wobbly
she nicked Dune off my bookshelf a few months ago. and i'm about to start her on feist once her tablet gets back from the repair shop. as long as what shes reading is not 50 shades of sorcery or terry goodkind's torture porn, we're good. but i also want her to have stuff that's easy and fun to read - eddings sort of level. so stuff like this and naomi novik (napoleonic wars with dragons) is ideal for her. lass is well into fantasy, son prefers sf - and is working through the ian banks.
this is the best thing about this thread is that you can see really well what stuff people read and like and get ideas based on their lists. i used to spend entirely too much time and money in forbidden planet so knew more about new stuff then, but no time or money to now. so i'm delighted to get recomendations
suggest some of the Jack Vance - Planet of Adventure for the sf oriented, Lyonesse for the fantasy, if they go for it they'll work their way around the rest, and they are mostly short and light.
billy_bob
Air of bewilderment model's own
11/20 Dickens: Tale of Two Cities
I have a kind of love/hate relationship with Dickens. There's all kinds of things about him that annoy me - he never uses one literary trick when twelve will do, his heroines are simpering goody-two-shoeses, even though he's perfectly capable of writing strong, independent female characters when he wants to, he's not always as liberal-minded as he thinks, and he's too fond of plot resolution by means of Amazing Coincidence. On the other hand, the story-telling and descriptive detail is often fantastic, and as a social conscience of his times I can't think of many English language writers his equal except maybe Steinbeck.
I have a kind of love/hate relationship with Dickens. There's all kinds of things about him that annoy me - he never uses one literary trick when twelve will do, his heroines are simpering goody-two-shoeses, even though he's perfectly capable of writing strong, independent female characters when he wants to, he's not always as liberal-minded as he thinks, and he's too fond of plot resolution by means of Amazing Coincidence. On the other hand, the story-telling and descriptive detail is often fantastic, and as a social conscience of his times I can't think of many English language writers his equal except maybe Steinbeck.
Me76
Not very good lurker
1/50 Fight Club, Chuck Palahniuk
2/50 The Child Thief, Dan Smith
3/50 Wanted, Nick Stephenson
4/50 The Graft, Martina Cole
5/50 Stardust, Neil Gaiman
6/50 Alys, Always, Harriet Lane
7/50 Bad Things Happen, K Leitch
8/50 Post Human Book 1, David Simpson
9/50 Bolthole, AJ Oates - another kindle freebie that was good. A man kills the guy who killed his family and you follow him on the run. Crappy epilogue though.
2/50 The Child Thief, Dan Smith
3/50 Wanted, Nick Stephenson
4/50 The Graft, Martina Cole
5/50 Stardust, Neil Gaiman
6/50 Alys, Always, Harriet Lane
7/50 Bad Things Happen, K Leitch
8/50 Post Human Book 1, David Simpson
9/50 Bolthole, AJ Oates - another kindle freebie that was good. A man kills the guy who killed his family and you follow him on the run. Crappy epilogue though.
May Kasahara
take me to the feeling
6/50 League of Extraordinary Gentlemen: Century - Alan Moore etc.
Just started The Amazing Adventures of Kavalier and Clay. I could be here awhile.
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wobbly
55. Phyliss Schafly - the flipside of feminism..
this was not written for those who can remember what was written on the previous page. it would be entertaining to do a logical falicy bingo card with this, but reading it once was enough
3/20 Ancillary Justice - Ann Leckie
DotCommunist
So many particulars. So many questions.
I've got Ancillary Sword on .epub and .mobi if you want it. Really does deserve the high praise it has had. Leckie isn't my new fave sci fi author but she joins the pantheon
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